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THE 



VISION; 

OK, 

HELL, PURGATORY, AND PARADISE 

OF 

DANTE ALIGHIERI. 

TRANSLATED BY 

THE REV. HENRY FRANCIS OAKY, A. M. 



WITH TIIE LIFE OF DANTE, CHRONOLOGICAL YIEW OF HIS AGE, 
ADDITIONAL NOTES, AND INDEX. 



FROM THE LAST CORRECTED LOIvDOX EDITION. 



NEW YORK: 
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, 

90, 92 & 94 GRAND STREET. 

1870 






4865c 3 
». 4, '35 



PREFACE. 



In the years 1805 and 1806, I puLlished the 

First Part of the following Translation, with tha 
Text of the Original. Since that period, two 
impressions of the whole of the Divina Comme- 
dia, in Italian, have made their appearance in 
this country. It is not necessary that I should 
add a third : and I am induced to hope that the 
Poem, even in the present version of it, may not 
be without interest for the mere English reader. 

The translation of the Second and Third Parts, 
" The Purgatory' 1 and " The Paradise," was be- 
gun long before the First, and as early as the 
year 1797 ; but, owing to many interruptions, 
not concluded till the summer before last. On 
a retrospect of the time and exertions that have 
been thus employed, I do not regard those hours 
as the least happy of my life, during which (to 
use the eloquent language of Mr. Coleridge) 
" my individual recollections have been sus- 
pended, and lulled to sleep amid the music of 
nobler thoughts ;" nor that study misapplied, 
which has familiarized me with one of the sub- 
lirnest efforts of the human invention. 

To those who shall be at the trouble of exam- 
ining into the degree of accuracy with which 
the task has been executed, I may be allowed 
to suggest, that their judgment should not be 
formed on a comparison with any single text 



4 PREFACE 

of my Author ; since, in more instances than 1 
have noticed, I have had to make my choice 
out of a variety of readings and interpretations 
presented by different editions and commenta- 
tors. 

In one or two of those editions is to be found 
the title of ,; The Vision ;"' which I have adopt- 
ed, as more conformable to the genius of oui 
language than that of ;i The Divine Comedy." 
Dante himself. I believe, termed it simply ii The 
Comedy ;*' in the first place, because the style 
was of the middle kind ; and in the next, be- 
cause the story (if story it may be called) ends 
happily. 

January, 1S14. 



The above Advertisement was prefixed to an 
edition of the following Translation, printed in 
so small a character as to deter a numerous 
class of readers from perusing it. Among the 
few into whose hands it fell, about two years 
ago, Mr. Coleridge became one ; and I have 
both a pride and a pleasure in acknowledging 
that it has been chiefly owing to the prompt and 
strenuous exertions of that Gentleman in rec- 
ommending the book to public notice, that the 
opportunity has been afforded me of sending it 
forth in its present form. 

July, 1819. 



When a Third Edition was called for in 1531, 
my duties as an Assistant Librarian in the Brit- 
ish Museum were such as to prevent me from 
engaging in any task that would have required 
an increase of sedentary labor. I was thus 






PREFACE. 5 

hindered not only from attending to the accu- 
racy of the press, (which indeed the care of 
my Publisher rendered almost unnecessary,) but 
from collecting and putting in order the several 
corrections and additions, which I had occasion- 
ally noted with the purpose of introducing them 
into that edition. 

A long interval of leisure may since have 
enabled me to do more effectually what I was 
before compelled to leave undone. In the hope 
of rendering the Life of Dante and the Notes on 
the Poem less imperfect, I have consulted most 
of the writers by whom my Author has been 
recently illustrated. Wherever an omission or 
an error in the tianslation has been pointed out 
to me, I have done my best to supply the one 
and to correct the other ; and my obligations in 
all these instances are acknowledged in the 
Notes. Among those who have not thought a 
few hours thrown away in noticing such over- 
sights, it is gratifying to me to mention the 
names of Mr. Carlyle, one of the most origi 
nal thinkers of our time ; my long-experienced 
friend, Mr. Darley, one of our most genuine 
poets ; and Mr. Lyell, my respected fellow- 
laborer in the mine of Dante. At an advanced 
age, I do not imagine myself capable of other- 
wise improving an attempt which, however de- 
fective, has at least the advantage of having had 
my earlier days bestowed on it. 

February, 1844 



CONTENTS 



PAGB 

PREFACE . 3 

LIFE OF DANTE 9 

CHRONOLOGICAL VIEW OF THE AGE OF 

DANTE 44 

THE VISION OF DANTE : 

Hell, Canto 1— XXXIV 51 

Purgatory, Canto I— XXXIII 225 

Paradise, Canto I— XXXIII 403 

INDEX ... 571 



LIFE OF DANTE. 



Dantb : a name abbreviated, as was the custom 
in those Jays, from Durante or Durando, was of a 
veiy ancient Florentine family. The first of his 
ancestors, 2 concerning whom any thing certain is 
known, was Cacciaguida, 3 a Florentine knight, who 
died fighting in the holy war, under the Emperor 
Conrad III. Cacciaguida had two brothers, Moronto 
and Eliseo, the former of whom is not recorded to 
have left any posterity ; the latter is the head of 
the family of the Elisei, or perhaps (for it is doubt- 
ful which is the case) only transmitted to his de- 
scendants a name which he had himself inherited. 
From Cacciaguida himself were sprung the Ali- 
ghieri, so called from one of his sons, who bore the 
appellation from his mother's family, 4 as is affirmed 
by the Poet himself, under the person of Caccia- 



i A note by Salvini, on Muratori della Perf. Toes. ItaL, lib 
iii. rap. 8. 
a Leonardo Aretino, Vita di Dante. 

3 Par. xv. He was born, as most have supposed, in 3106, 
and died about 1147. But Lombardi computes his birth to 
have happened about 1090. See note t3 Par. xvi. 31. Fof 
what is known of his descendants till the birth of Dante, ses 
note to Par. xv. 86. 

4 Vellutello, Vita di Dante. There is reason to suppose 
that she was the daughter of Aldigerio, who was a lawyer of 
Verona, and brother of one of the same name, bishop of that 
city, and author of an epistle addressed to his mother, a reli- 
gious recluse, with the title of Tractatus Adalgeri Episc. ad 
Eosuvidam reclausam (or, ad Orismundam matrem inclusam) 
de Rebus moralibus See Cancellieri Osservazioni &c. Itciua, 
1818, p. 119. 



1U LITE OF DANTE. 

guida, in the fifteenth canto of the Pare i 

l:.t.t. A^:.:.t;., :j . :.." :_-..". -.7 :::: : ." - 

a wing or, on a field azure, still horne by the de- 
scendants of onr Poet at Verona, in thr lays : 
Leon-rd-: Are::zo. 

Dante was born al Florence in May, 1265. II:s 



:: : pv.rs.;:: \\- : ;>- 

nianly character. 

ze in all honorable 



In rhe twenty-fourth year of his age, he 
present at the memorable battle C iinpaidino, 3 

where he served in the foremost troop of cavalry, 
and was exposed to imminent danger. Leonardo 
Aietino refers :: a letter of Dante, in which he 
drS'i-ribrd z.-.r :•:•£-: :: ::.:-.: b?.::'_r, :v.:~ :v.t:;::::;t: 

Arrt:::: :_: :.ir :::.-: :::-: i":b::fi s:- Z- "- :.."::.• 

:: j: zv-ri :1~ F/::::m: : : cor; .Dr. :h-:-:ii 



enemies v 
stance from tlieirs, 
ed to defeat with 



di Baafe. Opere di Dante. Ediz. Z 1758, torn, iw part 

li. p. 16. The male line ended in Pietro. the sixth in d e 



. . : : :i._s : -i-f ". r : -_n - - • 

'"? '. - : - ::" :".: ?: ?:'?. B 

E : ... _ r ""V. ' -.-.• s ::. :r.i i 

: '.:- -. ?:r_.. E; ::ic :::"s Li 

tes this engagement, lib. v 



LIFE OF DANTE. n 

line 1 interest, were with the Aretini ; while thos^ 
inhabitants of Arezzo, who, owing to their attach- 
ment to the Guelph 1 party had been banished from 
their own city, were ranged on the side of the 
Florentines. In the following year, Dante took 
part in another engagement between his country- 
men and the citizens of Pisa, from whom they took 
the castle of Caprona, 2 situated not far from tha 
city. 

From what the Poet has told us in his Tieatise, 
entitled the Vita Nuova, we learn that he was a 
(over long before he was a soldier, and that his pas- 
sion for the Beatrice whom he has immortalized, 
commenced 3 when she was at the beginning and he 
near the end of his ninth year. Their first meeting 
was at a banquet in the house of Folco Portinaii,* 
her father ; and the impression then made on the 
susceptible and constant heart of Dante was not 
obliterated by her death, which happened after an 
interval of sixteen years. 

Bat neither war, nor love, prevented Dante from 
gratifying the earnest desire which he had of know- 
ledge and mental improvement. By Benvenuto 
da Imola, one of the earliest of his commentators, 
it is related, that he studied in his youth at the 
universities of Bologna and Padua, as well as in 
that of his native city, and devoted himself to the 
pursuit of natural and moral philosophy. There is 
reason to believe that his eagerness for the acqui- 
sition of learning, at some time of his life, led him 
as far as Paris, and even Oxford ; 5 in the former 



1 For the supposed origin of these denominations, see note 
to Par. vi. 107. 

2 Hell, xxi. 92. 

8 See also the beginning of the Vita Nuova. 

4 Folco di Ricovero Portinari was the founder of the hos 
pital of S. Maria Nuova, in 1280, and of other charitable insti- 
tutions, and died in 1289, as appeared from his epitaph. Pelliy 
p. 55. 

5 Giovanni Villani, who was his contemporary, and, as 
Villani himself says, his neighbor in Florence, informs us, 
that "he went to study at Bologna, and then to Paris, and to 
many parts of the world," (an expression that may well in 
elude England,) " subsequently to his banishment." Hist. x 
lib. ix. cap. 135. Indeed, as we shall see, it is uncertain 
whether he might not have been more than once a student 
at Paris. 

But the fact of his having visited England rests en a pas- 
sage alluding to it in the Latin poems of Boccaccic, and on 



12 LIFE O* DANTE. 

of which universities he is said to have take.i the 
degree of a Bachelor, and distinguished himself 
in the theological disputations ; but to have been 
hindered from commencing Master, by a failure in 
his pecuniary resources. Francesco da Buti, an- 
other of his commentators in the fourteenth cen- 
tury, asserts that he entered the order of the Frati 
Minori, but laid aside the habit before he was pro- 
fessed. 

In his own city, domestic troubles, and yet more 
severe public calamities, awaited him. In 1291, 
he was induced, by the solicitation of his friends, 
to console himself for the loss of Beatrice by a 
matrimonial connection with Gemma, a lady of 



the authority of Giovanni da Serravalle, Bishop of Fermo, 
who, as Tiraboschi observes, though he lived at the distarce 
of a century from Dante, might have known those who were 
contemporaries with him. This writer, in an inedited com 
mentary on the Commedia, written while he was attending 
the council of Constance, says of our Poet : " Anagorice di- 
lexit theologiam sacram, in qua diu studuit tarn in Oxoniis 
in regno Angliae, quam Parisiis in regno Francis," &c. And 
again: "Dantes se in juventute dedit omnibus artibus libe- 
ralibus, studens eas Paduae, Bononiae, demum Oxoniis et 
Parisiis, ubi fecit multos actus mirabiles, intantum quod ab 
aliquibus dicebatur rnagnus philosophus, ab aliquibus mag 
nus Theologus, ab aliquibus magnus poeta." Tiraboschi 
Stor. della Poes. ItaL, vol. ii. cap. iv. p. 14, as extracted from 
Tiraboschi's great work by Mathias, and edited by that gen- 
tleman. Lond. 1803. 

The bishop translated the poem itself into Latin prose, at 
the instance of Cardinal Amedeo di Saluzzo, and of two Eng- 
lish bishops, Nicholas Bubwith, of Bath, and Robert Halam, 
of Salisbury, who attended the same council. One copy only 
of the version and commentary is known to be preserved, 
and that is in the Vatican. I would suggest the probability 
of others existing in this country. Stillingfleet, in the Ori- 
gines Sacrae, twice quotes passages from the Paradiso, " ren- 
dered into Latin," (and it is Latin prose,) as that learned bishop 
says, "by F. S." Orig. Sacr., b. ii. chap. ix. sect, xviii. § 4, 
and chap. x. sect. v. Edit. Cambridge, 1701. See notes to 
Par. xxiv. 86 and 104. This work was begun in February, 
1416, and finished in the same month of the following year. 

The word "anagorice," (into which the Italians altered 
" anagogice,") which occurs in the former of the above ex- 
tracts, is explained by Dante in the Convito. Opere di Danie^ 
torn. i. p. 43. Ediz. Venez. 1793 ; and more briefly by Field. 
Of the Church, b. iii. cap. 26. " The Anagogicall" sense is, 
" when the things literally expressed unto vis do signifie 
something in the state of heaven's happiness." It was used 
by the Greek Fathers to signify merely a more recondite 
sense in a text of Scripture than Jhat which the plain words 
offered. See Origen in Routh's Reliquiae Sacrse. vol. iv. p. 
B3 



LIFE OF DANTE. 13 

the noble family of the Donati, by whom he had 
a numerous offspring. But the violence of hei 
temper proved a source of the bitterest suffering to 
him ; and in that passage of the Inferno, where one 
of the characters says. 

La fiera moglie piii ch' altro, rod nuoce. 

Canto xvi. 



■ me, my wife 



Of savage temper, more than aught beside, 
Hath tcfthis evil brought, 

bis own conjugal unhappiness must have recurred 
forcibly and painfully to his mind. 1 It is not im* 
probable that political animosity might have had 
some share in these dissensions ; for his wife was 
a kinswoman of Corso Donati, one of the most formi- 
dable, as he was one of the most inveterate of his 
opponents. 

In 1300 he was chosen chief of the Priors, who 
at that time possessed the supreme authority in the 
6tate ; his colleagues being Palmieri degli Altoviti 
and Neri di Jacopo degli Alberti. From this exalta- 
tion our poet dated the cause of all his subsequent 
misfortunes in life. 2 

In order to show the occasion of Dante's exile, it 
may be necessary to enter more particularly into 
the state of parties at Florence. The city, which 
had been disturbed by many divisions between the 
Guelphs and Ghibellines, at length remained in 
the power of the former ; but after some time these 
were again split into two factions. This perverse 
occurrence originated with the inhabitants of Pis- 
toia, who, from an unhappy quarrel between two 
powerful families in that city, were all separated 
into parties known by those denominations. With 
the intention of composing their differences, the 
irincipals on each side were summoned to the city 



• l Yet M. Artaud, in his " Histoire de Dante," (8vo. Paris, 
1841, p. 85,) represents Gemma as a tender, faithful, and af- 
fectionate wife. I certainly do not find any mention of her 
unhappy temper in the early biographers. Regard for her or 
for her children might have restrained them. But in the next 
century, Landino, though commending her good qualities, 
does not scruple to assert that in this respect she was more 
than a Xanthippe. 

2 Leonardo Aretino. A late biographer, on the authority 
of Marchionne Stefani, assigns different colleagues to Dante 
in. his office of Prior. See Balbo. Vita di Dante, vol. i. p. 219 
Ediz. Torin. 1839. 
2 



I 



14 LIFE OF DANTE. 

of Florence ; but this measure, instead tf lemedying 
the evil, only contributed to increase its virulence. 
by communicating it to the citizens of Florence 
themselves. For the contending parties were so 
far from being brought to a reconciliation, that each 
contrived to gain fresh partisans among the Floren- 
tines, with whom many of them were closely con- 
nected by the ties of blood and friendship ; and who 
entered into the dispute with such acrimony and 
eagerness, that the whole city was soon engaged 
either on one part or the other, and even brothers 
of the same family were divided. It was not long 
before they passed, by the usual gradations, from 
contumely to violence. The factions were now 
known by the names of the Neri and the Bianchi, 
the former generally siding with the Guelphs, or 
adherents of the papal power, the latter with the 
Ghibellines, or those who supported the authority of 
the emperor. The Xeri assembled secretly in the 
church of the Holy Trinity, and determined on in- 
terceding with Pope Boniface VIII. to send Charles 
of Valois to pacify and reform the city. Xo sooner 
did this resolution come to the knowledge of the 
Bianchi. than, struck with apprehension at the con- 
sequences of such a measure, they took arms, and 
repaired to the Priors ; demanding of them the 
punishment of their adversaries, for having thus 
entered into private deliberations concerning the 
state, which they represented to have been done 
with the view of expelling them from the city 
Those who had met, being alarmed in their turn, 
had also recourse to arms, and made their complaints 
to the Priors. Accusing their opponents of having 
armed themselves without any previous public dis- 
cussion : and affirming that, under various pretexts, 
they had sought to drive them out of their country, 
they demanded that they might be punished as dis- 
turbers of the public tranquillity. The dread and 
danger became general, when, by the advice of 
Dante, the Priors called in the multitude to their 
protection and assistance ; and then proceeded to 
banish the principals of the two factions, who were 
these: Corso Donati, 1 Geri Spini, Giachonotto de' 
Pazzi, Rosso della Tosa, and others of the Xera 



1 Of this rem?rkable man, see more in the Purg. xxiv 
81. 



LIFE OF DANTE. 15 

parly, who were exiled to the Castello della Pieve 
',n Perugia ; and of the Bianca party, who were 
banished to Serrazana, Gentile and Torrigiano de' 
Cerchi, Guido Cavalcanti, 1 Baschiera della Tosa, 
Baldinaccio Adimari, Naldo, son of Lottino Ghe- 
rardini, and others. On this occasion Dante was 
accused of favoring the Bianchi, though he ap- 
pears to have conducted himself with impartiality ; 
and the deliberation held by the Neri for intro- 
ducing Charles cf Valois 2 might, perhaps, have jus- 
tified him in treating that party with yet greater 
rigor. The suspicion against him was increased, 
when those, whom he was accused of favoring, wers 
soon after allowed Ij return from their banishment, 
while the sentence passed upon the other faction 
still remained in full force. To this Dante replied, 
that when those who had been sent to Serrazana 
were recalled, he was no longer in office ; and that 
their return had been permitted on account of the 
death of Guido Cavalcanti, which was attributed to 
the unwholesome air of that place. The partiality 
which had been shown, however, afforded a pretext 
to the Pope 3 for dispatching Charles of Valois to 
Florence, by whose influence a great reverse was 
soon produced in the public affairs ; the ex-citizens 
being restored to their place, and the whole of the 
Bianca party driven into exile. At this juncture, 
Dante was not in Florence, but at Rome, whither 
he had a short time before been sent ambassador to 
the Pope, with the offer of a voluntary return to 
peace and amity among the citizens. His enemies 
had now an opportunity of revenge, and during his 
absence on this pacific mission, proceeded to pass an 
iniquitous decree of banishment against him and 
Palmieri Altoviti ; and at the same time confiscated 
his possessions, which indeed had been previously 
given up to pillage. 4 



1 See notes to Hell, x. 59, and Purg. xi. 96. 
s See Purg. xx. 69. 

3 Boniface VIII. had before sent the Cardinal Matxeo d'Ac 
quasparta to Florence, with the view of supporting his own 
adherents in that city. The cardinal is supposed to be al- 
luded to in the Paradise, xii. 115. 

4 On the 27th of January, 1302, he was mulcted 8000 lire; 
and condemned to two years' banishment; and in case the 
titie was not paid, his goods were to be confiscated. On the 
16th of March, the same year, he was sentenced to a punish- 
ment due only to the most desperate of malefactors. Tha 



16 LIFE OF DANTE 

On hearing the tidings of his ruin, Dine in* 
stantly quitted Rome, and passed with all possible 
expedition to Sienna. Here being more fully ap- 
prized of the extent of the calamity, for which he 
could see no remedy, he came to the desperate 
resolution of joining himself to the other exiles 
His first meeting with them was at a consultation 
which they had at Gorgonza, a small rastle subject 
to the jurisdiction of Arezzo, in which city it was 
anally, after a long deliberation, resolved that they 
should take up their station. 1 Hither they accord- 



decree, that Dante and his associates in exile should be 
burned, if they fell into the hands of their enemies, was first 
discovered in 1772, by the Conte Lodovico Savioli. See Ti- 
raboschi, where the document is given at length. 

1 At Arezzo it was his fortune, in 1302C to meet with 
Busone da Gnbbia, who two years before had been expelled 
from his country as a Ghibelline, in about the twentieth year 
of his age. Busone, himself a cultivator of the Italian poetry, 
here contracted a friendship with Dante, which was after- 
wards cemented by the reception afforded him under Busone's 
roof during a part of his exile. He was of the ancient and 
noble family of the Rafaelli of Gubbio ; and to his banish- 
ment owed the honorable offices which he held of governor 
of Arezzo in 1316 and 1317 ; of governor of Viterbo in the 
latter of these years ; then of captain of Pisa ; of deputy to 
the Emperor in*1327 ; and finally of Roman senator in 1337 
He died probably about 1350. The historian of Italian litera- 
ture speaks slightly of his poetical productions, consisting 
chiefly of comments on the Divina Commedia, which were 
written in terza rima. They have been published by Sig. 
Francesco Maria Rafaelli, who has collected all the informa- 
tion that could be obtained respecting them. Delicia Erudi- 
tor, v. xvii. He wrote also a romance, entitled U Avventuroso 
Ciciliano, which has never been printed. Tiraboschi, Stor 
della Poes. lia.L, v. ii. p. 56. In Allacci's Collection, Ediz. Na- 
poli. 1661, p. 112, is a sonnet b3* Busone, on the death of a lady 
and of Dante, which concludes, 

Ma i mi conforto ch' io credo che Deo 
Dante abbia posto in glorioso scanno. 

At the end of the Divina Commedia, in No. 3581 of the 
Harieian MSS iii the British Museum, are four poems. The 
first, beginning, 

O voi che siete nel verace lume, 

is attributed, as irsual, to Jacopo Dante. The second, whi'-^ 

begins, 

Acio che sia piu frutto e piu diletto 
A qu ,4 che si dilettan di sapere 
Dell alta comedia vero intelletto, 

and proceeds with a brief explanation of the principal parts 
r»f the poem, is here attributed to Messer Busone d'Agobbi© 
It is also inserted in Nos 3459 and 3460 of the same^MSS. 



LIFE OF DANTE. 17 

ragly repaired in a numerous body, made the Count 
Alessandro da Romena their leader, and appointed 
a council of twelve, of which number Dante was 
one. In the year 1304, having been joined by a 
very strong force, which was not only furnished 
them by Arezzo, but sent from Bologna and Pistoia, 
they made a sudden attack on the city of Florence, 
gained possession of one of the gates, and conquered 
part of the territory, but were finally compelled to 
retreat without retaining any of the advantages they 
had acquired. 

Disappointed in this attempt to reinstate himself 
in his country, Dante quitted Arezzo ; and his course 
is, 1 for the most part, afterwards to be traced only 
by notices, casually dropped in his own writings, 
or discovered in documents, which either chance or 
the zeal of antiquaries may have brought to light. 
From an inshTiraent 2 in the possession of the Marchesi 
Papafavi, of Padua, it has-been ascertained that, 
in 1306, he was at that city and with that family. 
Similar proof 3 exists of his having been present in 
the following year at a congress of the Ghibel lines 
and the Bianchi, held in the sacristy of the church 
belonging to the abbey of S. Gaudenzio in Mu- 
gello ; and from a passage in the Purgatory 4 we 
collect, that before the expiration of 1307 he had 
found a refuge in Lunigiana, with the Marchese 



and I have had occasion to refer to it in the notes to Pun:, 
xxix. 140. The third is a sonnet by Cino da Pistoia to Bu- 
sone ; and the fourth, Busone's answer. Since this note was 
written, Busone's Romance, above mentioned, has been edit- 
ed at Florence in the year 1832, by the late Doctor Nott. 

1 A late writer has attempted a recital of his wanderings. 
For this purpose, he assigns certain arbitrary 7 dates to the 
completion of the several parts of the Divina Commedia ; and 
selecting from each what he supposes to be reminiscences of 
particular places visited by Dante, together with allusions to 
events then passing, contrives, by the help of some question- 
able documents, to weave out of the whole a continued 
narrative, which, though it may pass for current with the 
unwary reader, will not satisfy a more diligent inquirer after 
v the truth. See Troya's veltro Allegorko di Dante. Flo- 
rence, 1826. 

a Millesimo trecentesimo sexto, die vigesimo septimo men- 
sis Augusti, Padue in contrataSancti Martini in domo Domino 
Am ate Domini Papafave, praesentibus Dantino quondam Al- 
ligerii de Florentia et nunc stat Padue in contrata Sancti 
Laurentii, &c. Pelli, p. 83. 

3 Pelli, p. 85, where the document is given 

4 Canto viii. 133. 



13 LIFE OF DANTE. 

Morello or Mai cello Malaspina, vino, though fot 
merly a supporter 1 of the opposite party, was now 
magnanimous enough to welcome a noble enemy in 
his misfortune. 

The time at which he sought an asylum at Ve- 
rona, under the hospitable roof of the Signori della 
Scala, is less distinctly marked. It would seem aa 
if those verses in the Paradise, where the shade of 
his ancestor declares to him, 

Lo primo tuo rifugio e'l primo ostello 

Sara la cortesia del gran Lombardc, 

First 2 refuge thou must find, first place of rest 

In the great Lombard's courtesy, 

should not be interpreted too strictly : but whether 
he experienced that courtesy at a very early period 
of his banishment, or, as others have imagined, not 
till 1308, when he had quitted the Marchess Mo- 
rello, it is believed that he left Verona in disgust at 
the flippant levity of that court, or at some slight 
which he conceived to have been shown him by his 
munifioent patron Can Grande, on whose liberality 
he has passed so high an encomium. 3 Supposing 
the latter to have been the cause of his departure, 
it must necessarily be placed at a date posterior to 
1308 ; for Can Grande, though associated with his 
amiable brother Alboino 4 in the government of Ve- 
rona, was then only seventeen years of age, and 
therefore incapable of giving the alleged offence to 
his guest. 

The mortifications which he underwent during 
these wanderings, will be best described in his own 
language. In his Convito he speaks of his banish- 
ment, and the poverty and distress which attended 
it, in very affecting terms. " Alas !" 5 said he " had 



1 Hell, xxiv. 144. Morello's wife Alagia is honorably men- 
tioned in tLo Purg. xix. 140. 

2 Canto xvii. 68. 

3 Hell, i. 98, and Par. xvii. 75. A Latin Episile dedicatory 
Tf the Paradise to Can Grande is attributed to Dante. With 
out better proof than has been yet adduced, I cannot con- 
clude it to be genuine. See the questiovi discussed by Fra- 
ticelli, in the Opere Minori di Dante, torn. iii. p te ii. 12°, Fhr 
3841. 

4 Alboino is spoken of in the Convito, p. 179, in such a 
manner, that it is not easy to say whether a compliment 
or a reflection is intended ; but I am inclined to think the 
latter. 

8 ' Ahi piacciuto fosse al Dispensature dell' Universe," &c 
p 11. 



LIFE OF Di.NTE. 19 

it pleased the Dispenser of the Universe, that the 
occasion of this excuse had never existed ; that nei- 
ther others had committed wrong against me, nor I 
suffered unjustly ; suffered, I say, the punishment 
of exile and of poverty ; since it was the pleasure 
of the citizens of that fairest and most renowned 
daughter of Rome, Florence, to cast me forth out 
of her sweet bosom, in which I had my birth and 
nourishment even to the ripeness of my age ; and 
in which, with her good will, I desire, with all my 
heart, to rest this wearied spirit of mine, and to ter- 
minate the time allotted to me on earth. Wan- 
dering over almost every part, to which this our 
language extends, I have gone about like a mendi- 
cant ; showing, against my will, the wound with 
which fortune has smitten me, and which is often 
imputed to his ill-deserving on whom it is inflicted. 
I have, indeed, been a vessel without sail and with- 
out steerage, carried about to divers ports, and roads, 
and shores, by the dry wind that springs out of sad 
poverty ; and have appeared before the eyes of 
many, who, perhaps, from some report that had 
reached them, had imagined me of a different form ; 
in whose sight not only my person was disparaged, 
but every action of mine became of less value, as 
well already performed, as those which yet remained 
for me to attempt." It is no wonder that, with 
feelings like these, he was now willing to obtain by 
humiliation and entreaty, what he had before been 
unable to effect by force. 

He addressed several supplicatory epistles, not 
only to individuals who composed the government, 
but to the people at large ; particularly one letter, 
of considerable length, which Leonardo Aretino re- 
lates to have begun with this expostulation * " Po- 
pule mi, quid feci tibi ?" 

While he anxiously waited the result of these 
endeavors to obtain his pardon, a different com- 
plexion was given to the face of public affairs by 
the exaltation of Henry of Luxemburgh 1 to the 
imperial throne ; and it was generally expected 
that the most important political changes would 
follow, on the arrival of the new sovereign in Italy, 
Another prospect, more suitable to the temper of 
t)ante, now disclosed itself to Ins hopes : he once 

1 Far. xvii. 80, and xxx. 141 



20 LIFE OF DAXTE. 

more assumed a lofty tone of defiance ; and, as It 
should seem, without much regard eilhir to con- 
sistency or prudence, broke out into bitter invec- 
tives against the rulers of Florence, threatening 
them with merited vengeance from the power of 
the Emperor, which he declared that they had no 
adequate means of opposing. He now decidedly 
relinquished the party of the Guelphs, which had 
been espoused by Ins ancestors, and under whose 
banners he had served in the earlier part of his 
life on the plains of Campaldino ; and attached 
himself to the cause of their opponents, the Ghibel- 
lines. Reverence for his country, says one of his 
biographers, 1 prevailed on liim to absent himself 
from the hostile army, when Henry of Luxem- 
burgh encamped before the gates of Florence \ 
but it is difficult to give him credit for being now 
much influenced by a principle which had not for- 
merly been sufficient to restrain him from similar 
violence. It is probable that he was actuated by 
some desire, however weak, of preserving appear- 
ances ; for of Ins personal courage no question can 
be made. Dante was fated to disappointment 
The Emperor's campaign ended in nothing ; the 
Emperor himself died the following summer, (in 
1313.) at Buonconvento ; and, with him, all hopes 
of regaining his native city expired in the breast 
of the unhappy exile. Several of his biographers 3 
affirm that he now made a second journey to Paris, 
where Boccaccio adds that he held a public dis- 
putation 3 on various questions of theology. To 
what other places 4 he might have roamed during 
his banishment, is very uncertain. We are told 
that he was in Casentino. with the Conte Guido 



1 Leonardo Aretino. 

2 Benvenuto da Imola, Filippo Villani, and Boccaccio 

3 Another public philosophical disputation at Yerona, in 
1320, published at Venice in 1508. seems to be regarded by 
Tiraboschi with some suspicion of its authenticity. It is en- 
titled, 4i Quaestio florulenta et peratilis de duobus elements 
aquae et terra? tractans, nuper reperta, qua? olim Mantuu3 
auspicata, Yerona? vero disputata et decisa, ac manu propria 
scripta a Dante Fiorentino Poeta clarissimo, quae diligenter et 
accurate correcta fuit per Rev. Magistrum Joan. Benetlic 
turn Yioncettum de Castilione Aretino Regentem Patavinum 
Ordinis Eremitarum Divi AugustinL, sacreeque T^ieologiae 
Doctorem excellentissimurn." 

4 Yelluteilf sa>T that he was also in Germany. Vita «iei 
Poeta. 



LIFE OF DAME. 21 

Salvatico, at one time ; and, at another, in the 
nonntains near Urbino. with the Signori della Fag- 
riola. At the monaster}* of Santa Croce di Fonte 
Avellana, a wild and solitary retreat in the territory 
of Gubbio, was shown a chamber in which, as a 
Latin inscription 2 declared, it was believed that ho 
had composed no small portion of his divine work. 
A tower, 3 belonging to the (?onti Falcucci, in Gub- 
bio, claims for itself a similar honor. In the castlo 
of Colmollaro, near the river Saonda, and about 
six miles from the same city, he was courteously 
entertained by Busone da Gubbio, 4 whom he had 
formerly met at Arezzo. There are some traces 



1 He was grandson to the valiant Guidosruerra Pclii, p 
95. See H. xvi. 38. 

2 Hocce cubiculum hospes 

In quo Dantes Aligherins habitasse 

In eoque non minimum praeclari ac 

Pene divinl operis partem com- 

posuisse dicitur undique fatiscens 

Ac tantum non solo aequatum 

Philippus Rodulphius \ 

Laurentii Xicolai Cardinalis 

Amplissimi Fratris Filius summus 

Collegii Praises pro eximia erga 

Civem suum pietate refici hancque 

Illius effigiem ad tanti viri memo- 

riam revocandam Antonio Petreio 

Canon. Floren. procurante 

Collocari mandavit 

Kal. Mali. M.D.L.VII. Pelli, p. 98 

• In this is inscribed, 

Hie mansit Dantes 
Aleghierius Poeta 
Et carmina scripsit. Pelli, p. 97. 

4 The following sonnet, said to be addressed to him by 
Dante, was published in the Delitiae Eruditorum, and is in- 
serted in the Zatta edition of our Poet's Works, torn iv. pail 
j. p. 264, in which alone I have seen it : 

Tu, che stampi lo colle ombroso e fresco, 
Ch' e co lo Pinnae, che non e torrente, 
Linci molle lo chiama quella gente 
In nome Italiano e non Tedesco : 
Ponti. sera e mattin, contento al desco. 
Perche del car ngliuol vedi presente 
El frutto che sperassi, e si repente 
S' avaccia nello stil Greco e Francesco 
Perche cima d'ingegno non s'astalla 
In quella Italia di dolor ostello, 
Di cui si speri gia cotanto frutto ; 
Gavazzi pur el primo Raflaello, 

Che tra dotti vedrallo esser veduto, 
Come sopr' acqua si sostien la galla. 



22 LIFE OF DANTE. 

of his having made a temporary abode at Udine, 
and particularly of his having been in the Friuli 
with Pagano dell a Torre, the patriarch of Aquileia, 
at the castle of Tolmino, where he is also said to 
have employed himself on the Divina Commedia 
and where a rock was pointed out that was called 
the seat of Dante. 1 What is known with greater 
certainty is, that he afr last found a refuge at Ra- 
venna, with Guido Novello da Polenta f a splendid 
protector of learning ; himself a poet ; and the kins- 
man of that unfortunate Francesca, 3 whose story had 
been told by Dante with such unrivalled pathos. 



Translation. 

Thou, who where Linci sends his stream to drench 
The valley, walk'st that fresh and shady hill 
(Soft Linci well they call the gentle rill, 
Nor smooth Italian name to German wrench) 

Evening and morning seat thee on thy bench, 
Content ; beholding fruit of knowledge fill 
So early thy son's branches, that grow still 
Enrich'd with dews of Grecian lore and French. 

Though genius, with like hopeful fruitage hung, 
Spread not aloft in recreant Italy, 
Where grief her home, and worth has made his grave 

Vet may the elder Raffaello see, 
With joy, nis offspring seen the leanrd among, 
Like buoyant thing that floats above the wave. 

* The considerations which induced the Cavalier Vannetti 
to conclude that a part of the Commedia, and the Canzone 
beginning 

Canzon, da che convien pur, ch' io mi doglia, 

were written in the valley Lagarina, in the territory of 
Trento, do not appear entitled to much notice. Vannetti's 
letter is in the Za.ta edition of Dante, torn. iv. part ii. p. 143. 
There may be better ground for concluding that he was, 
sometime during his exile, with Lanteri Paratico, a man of 
ancient and noble family, at the castle of Paratico, near Bres 
cia, and that he there employed himself on his poems. The 
proof of this rests upon a communication made by the Abate 
Rodella to Dionisi, of an extract from a chronicle remaining 
jt Brescia. See Cancellieri. Osservazioni intorno alia ques- 
tione sopra 1'originalita della Divina Commedia, &c. Itoma, 
1814, p. 125. 

2 See Hell, xxvii. 38. 

3 Hell, v. 113, and note. Former biographers of Dante have 
represented Guido, his last patron, as the father of Francesca 
Troya asserts that he was her nephew. See his Veltro Alle- 
gorico di Dante. Ed. Florence, 1826, p. 176. It is to be re- 
gretted that, in this instance, as in others, he gives no au- 
thority for his assertion. He is, however, followed by Balbo, 
V r ita di Dante, Torino, 1839, v. ii. p. 315; and Artaud, His 
toire de Dante, Paris, 1841, p. 470. 



LIFE OF DANTE. 2'j 

It would appear from one of his Epistles, that 
about the year 1316 he had the option given him of 
returning to Florence, on the ignominious terms of 
paying a fine, and of making a public avowal of hia 
offence. It may, perhaps, be in reference to this 
offer, winch, for the same reason that Socrates re- 
fused to save his life on similar conditions, he indig- 
nantly rejected, that he promises himself he shall 
one day return " in other guise," 

and standing up 
At his baptismal font, shall claim the wreath 
Due to the poet's temples. Purg. xxv. 

Such, indeed, was the glory which his compositions 
in his native tongue had now 7 gained him, that he 
declares, in the treatise De Vulgari Elcquentia, 1 it 
had in some measure reconciled him even to Ins ban- 
ishment. 

In the service of his last patron, in whom he 
seems to have met with a more congenial mind 
than in any of the former, his talents were grate- 
fully exerted, and his affections interested but too 
deeply ; for having been sent by Guido on an em- 
bassy to the Venetians, and not being able even to 
obtain an audience, on account of the rancorous 
animosity with which they regarded that prince, 
Dante returned to Ravenna so overwhelmed with 
disappointment and grief, that he was seized by an 
illness which terminated fatally, either in July or 
September, 132 1. 2 Guido testified his sorrow and 
respect by the sumptuousness of his obsequies, and 
by his intention to erect a monument, which he did 
not live to complete. His countrymen showed, too 
late, that they knew the value of what they had 
lost. At the beginning of the next century, their 
posterity marked their regret by entreating that the 
mortal remains of their illustrious citizen might be 
restored to them, and deposited among the tombs of 
their fathers. But the people of Ravenna were un- 



1 Quantum vero suos famihares gloriosos efficiat, nos ipsi 
Dovimus, qui hujus dulcedine glorias nostrum exilium pester- 
gamus. Lib. i. cap. 17. 

2 Filippo Villani; Domenico di Bandino d'Arezzo; and 
Giov. Villani, Hist. lib. ix. cap. 135. The last writer, whose 
authority is perhaps the best on this point, in the Giunti edi- 
tion of 1559, mentions July as the month in which he died; 
bat there is a MS. of Villani's history, it is said, in the library 
of St. Mark, at Venice, in which his death is placed in Sep 
tember 



24 LIFE OF DANTE. 

willing to part with the sad and honorable memorial 
of their own hospitality. No better success attended 
the subsequent negotiations of the Florentines for 
the same purpose, though renewed under the auspi- 
ces of Leo X., and conducted through the powerful 
mediation of Michael Angelo. 1 

The sepulchre, designed and commenced by Guido 
da Polenta, was, in 1483, erected by Bernardo Bem- 
bo, the father of the Cardinal ; and, by him, decora- 
ted, besides other ornaments, with an effigy of the 
poet in bas-relief, the sculpture of Pietro Lombardo, 
and with the following epitaph : 

Exigua. tumuli, Danthes, hie sorte jacebas, 

Squalenti nulli cognite pene situ. 
At nunc marmoreo subnixus conderis arcu, 

Omnibus et cultu splendidiore nites. 
Nimirum Bembus Musis incensus Etruscis 

Hoc tibi, quern imprimis hee coluere, dedit. 

A yet more magnificent memorial was raised so 

lately as the year 1780, by the Cardinal Gonzaga. 2 

His children consisted of one daughter and five 

sons, two of whom, Pietro 3 and Jacopo, 4 inherited 



i Pelli, p. 104. 

2 Tiraboschi. 

In the Literary Journal, Feb. 16, 1804, p. 192, is the follow 
ing article : — " A subscription has been opened at Florence 
for erecting a monument in the cathedral there, to the mem 
ory of the great poet Dante. A drawing of this monument 
has been submitted to the Florentine Academy of the Fine 
Arts, and has met with universal approbation." A monu- 
ment, executed by Stefano Ricci of Arezzo, has since, been 
erected to him in the Santa Croce at Florence, which I had 
the gratification of seeing in the year 1833. 

3 Pietro was also a poet. His commentary on the Diving 
Commedia, which is in Latin, has never been published. 
Lionardo, the grandson of Pietro, came to Florence, with 
other young men of Verona, in the time of Leonardo Are- 
tino, who tells us that he showed him there the house of 
Dante and of his ancestors. Vita di Dante. To Pietro, the 
son of Lionardo, Mario Filelfo addressed his life of our Poet. 
The son of this Pietro, Dante III., was a man of letters, and 
an elegant poet. Some of his works are preserved in collec- 
tions : he is commended by Valerianus de Infelicitate Literat. 
lib. 1, and is, no doubt, the same whom Landino speaks of as 
living in his time at Ravenna, and calls "uomo molto lite- 
rato ed eloquente e.degno di tal sangue, e quale meritamente 
si dovrebbe rivocar nella sua antica patria e nostra repub- 
lica." In 1495, the Florentines took Landino's advice, and 
invited him back to the city, offering to restore all they could 
of the property that had belonged to his ancestors ; but he 
would not quit Verona, where he was established in much 
opulence. Vellutello, Vita. He afterwards experienced a sad 
reverse of fortune. He had three sons, one of whom, Fran 



LIFE OF DANTE. 2*| 

some portion of their father's abilities, which they 
employed chiefly in the pious task of illustrating hig 
Divina Commedia. The former of these posseted 
acquirements of a more profitable kind ; and obtain- 
ed considerable wealth at Verona, where he was 
settled, by the exercise of the legal profession. He 
was honored with the friendship of Petrarch, by 
whom some verses were addressed to him 1 at Tre- 
vigi, in 13 Gl. 

His daughter Beatrice 2 (whom he is said to have 
named after the daughter of Folco Portinari) became 
a nun in the convent of S. Stefano dell' Uliva, at 
Ravenna ; and, among the entries of expenditure by 
the Florentine Republic, appears a present of ten 
golden florins sent to her in 1350, by the hands of 
Boccaccio, from the state. The imagination can 
picture to itself few objects more interesting, than 
the daughter of Dante, dedicated to the service of 
religion in the city where her father's ashes were de- 
posited, and receiving from his countrymen this tardy 
tribute of their reverence for his divine genius, and 
her own virtues. 

It is but justice to the wife of Dante not to omit 
what Boccaccio 3 relates of her : that after the ban- 
ishment of her husband she secured some share of 
his property from the popular fury, under the name 
of her dowry ; that out of this she contrived to 
support their little family with exemplary discre- 



cesco, made a translation of Vitravius, which 's supposed to 
have perished. A better fate has befallen an elegant dia- 
logue written by him, which was published, not many years 
ago, in the Anecdota Literaria, edit. Roma, (no date,) vol. ii. 
p. 207. It is entitled Francisci Aligerii Dantis III. Filii Dia- 
logus Alter de Antiquitatibus Valentinis ex Cod. MS. Mem 
branaceo. Soec. xvi. nunc primum in lucem editus. Piotro, 
another son of Dante III., who was also a scholar, and held 
the office of Proved itore of Verona in 1539, was the father 
of Ginevra, mentioned above in the note to p. 10. See Pelli, 
p. 28, &c. Vellutello, in his life of the Poet, acknowledges 
his obligations to this last Pietro for the information he had 
given him. 

4 Jacopo is mentioned by Bembo among the Rimatori, 
lib. ii. della Volg. Ling, at the beginning; ai.d some of his 
verses are preserved in MS. in the Vatican, and at Florence. 
He was living in 1342, and had children, of whom little is 
known. The^ names of our Poet's other sons were Gabriello, 
Aligero, and Eliseo. The last two died in their childhood 
Of Gabriello, nothing certain is known. 

1 Carm. lib. hi. ep. vii. 

a Pelli, p. 33. 

3 Vita di Dante, p 57, ed. Firenze, 1576 



26 LIFE OF DANTE 

:ion ; and that she even removed from th-em the 
pressure of poverty, by such industrious efforts as in 
her former affluence she had never been called 
on to exert. Who does not regret, that with qual- 
ities so estimable, she wanted the sweetness of tem- 
per necessary for . riveting the affections of her 
husband ? 

Dante was a man of middle stature and grave 
deportment : of a visage rather long ; large eyes ; 
an aquiline nose ; dark complexion ; large and 
prominent cheek-bones; black curling hair and 
beard : the under lip projecting beyond the upper. 
He mentions, in the Convito, that Ins sight had 
been transiently impaired by intense application to 
books. 1 In his dress, he studied as much plainness 
as was suitable with his rank and station in life ; 
and observed a strict temperance in his diet. He 
was at times extremely absent and abstracted : and 
appears to have indulged too much a disposition to 
sarcasm. At the table of Can Grande, when the 
company was amused by the conversation and tricks 
of a buffoon, he was asked by his patron, why Can 
Grande himself, and the guests who were present, 
failed of receiving as much pleasure from the ex- 
ertion of his talents, as this man had been able to 
give them. " Because all creatures delight in their 
own resemblance," was the reply of Dante. 2 In 
ether respects, his manners are said to have been 
dignified and polite. He was particularly careful 
not to make any approaches to flattery, a vice 
which he justly held in the utmost abhorrence. He 
spoke seldom, and in a slow voice ; but what he 
said derived authority from the subtleness of his 
observations, somewhat like his own poetical heroes, 

who 

1 ' ; Per affaticare (o viso molto a studio di leggere, intanto 
debilitai gli spirit! visivi, clie le stelle mi pareano tutte d'al- 
enno albore ombrate : e per lunga riposanza in luoghi scuri, 
e freddi, e con anreddarelo corpo dell' occhio con acqua pura, 
rivinsi la virtu disgregata, che tornai nel prima buono s;ato 
della vista/' Convito. p. 10?. 

2 There is here a point of resemblance (nor is it the only 
me) in the character of Milton. " I had rather.'' says the 
iuthor of Paradise Lost, " since the life of man is likened to a 
V^ene, that all my entrances and exits might mix with such 
Persons only, whose worth erects them and their actions to a 
grave and tragic deportment, and not to have to do with 
clowns and vices." Colasterion, Prose Wiorksj vol. i. p. 339 
Edit. London, 1753. 



LIFE OF DANTE. 3-5 

Parlavan rado con voci soavi. 

spake 

Soldoin, but all their words were tuneful sweet. 

Hell, iv 

He was connected in habits of intimacy and friend- 
ship with the most ingenious men of his time ; 
with Guido Cavalcanti ; 2 with Buonaggiunta da 
Lucca ; 2 w'th Forese Donati ; 3 with Cino da 
Pistoia ; 4 with Giotto, 5 the celebrated painter, by 
whose hand his likeness 6 was preserved ; with 



- See Hell, x. and notes. 

2 See Purg. xxiv. Yet Tiraboschi observes, that .hough it 
is not improbable that Buonaggiunta was the contemporary 
and friend of Dante, it cannot be considered as certain. Stor. 
della Poes. Ital., torn. i. p. 109, Mr. Mathias's Edit. 

s See Purg. xxiiL 44. 

4 Guittorino de' Sigibuldi, commonly called Cino da Pistoia, 
(besides the passage that will be cited in a following note 
from the De Yulsr. Eloq.,) is again spoken of in the same 
treatise, lib. i. c. 17, as a great master of the vernacular dic- 
tion in his Canzoni, and classed with our Poet himself, who 
is termed " Amicus ejus ;" and likewise in lib. ii. c. 2, where 
he is said to have written of " Love." His verses are cited 
too in other chapters. He addressed and received sonnets 
from Dante ; and wrote a sonnet, or canzone, on Dante's 
death, which is preserved in the library of St. Mark, at Ven • 
ice. Tiraboschi, della Poes. Ital., v. i. p. 116, and v. ii. p. GO. 
The same honor was done to the memory of Cino by Pe 
trarch, son. 71. part i. '"Celebrated both as a lawyer and a 
poet, he is better known by the writings which he has left in 
the latter of these characters," insomuch that Tiraboschi has 
observed, that among those who preceded Petrarch, there is, 
perhaps, none who can be compared to him in elegance and 
sweetness. "There are many editions of his poems, the 
most copious being that published at Venice in 1589, by P. 
Faustino Tasso ; in which, however, the Padre degli Agos- 
tini, not without reason, suspects that the second book is by 
later hands." Tiraboschi, ibid. There has been an edition 
by Seb. Ciampi, at Pisa, in 1813, &c. ; but see the remarks on 
it in Gamba's Testi di Lingua Ital. 294. He was interred at 
Pistoia, with this epitaph: "Cino eximio Juris interpreti Bar- 
tolique prreceptori dignissimo populus Pistoriensis Civi suo 
B. M. fecit. Obiit anno 1336." Guidi Panziroli de Claris Le- 
g-urn Interpretibus, lib. ii. cap. xxix. Lips. 4to. 1721. A Lathi 
letter supposed to be addressed by Dante to Cino was pub- 
lished for the first time from a MS.' in the Laurentian library, 
by M. Witte. 

5 See Purg. xi. 

6 Mr. Eastlake, in a note to Kugler's Hand-Book of Paint- 
'ng, translated by a Lady, Lond. 1842, p. 50, describes the 
hscovery and restoration, in July, 1840, of Dante's portrait, 
by Giotto, in the chapel of the Podesta at Florence, where it 
had been covered with whitewash or plaster. But it could 
scarcely have been concealed so soon as our distinguished 
artist supposes, since Landino speaks of it as remaining in 
Uis time, and Vasari says it was still to be seen when he wrote. 



28 LIFE OF DANTE. 

Oderigi da Gubbio, 1 the illuminator ; and rith as 

eminent musician 3 — 

his Cas . he wooed :: 

Met in the milder shades c-f Purgatory. Milton's SanneU 

les these, h intance extended to some 

others, istrate the first dawn of 

Italian I terature. Lapo degfli Dante da 

Majano ;- Cecco Angiolieri f Dino Frescobaldi f 

I See Purg. xi. 
mo ii. 

3 Lapo is said to have teen the son of Farinatadegli Ubtrti, 
^see Hell. : 3Q and T:raboscbi deUa Poes.ItaL, v. i. p. 116,) 
and the : Lthei jfl z : degli D berti, author of the Dittamondo, 
a poem which is thought, in the energy of its style, to make 
some approaches to the Divina Commedia, (ibid. v. ii. p. 63,) 
though Monti passes on it a much less favorable sentence, (see 
his ?: ;: : -: \. v, ■_:_. p-= 0. p. ccx. 5vo. 1824, Kr is probably the 
Lapo mentioned in the sonnet to Guido Cavalcanti, begin- 
ning. 

Gmdo " nei che tu e Lapo ed io, 

which Mr. Hay ley has so happily translated, (see Hell. 
and also in a passage that occnis in the DeVulg. Ekx 

p. 111. • • Q, -:.:: h sno turpdoquio sini 

obtnsi, nonnullos Vulgaris excellentiam cognovisse sentimus, 

scilicet Cuidonem Lapum, et unuui alium, Florentinos, et 

CSnum Pis! iensem, em nunc indigne postponimus, non 

indigne coacti." " Although almost all the Tuscans are 

baseness ftheii yet I perceive that 

some have excellence of the vernacular tongue, 

namely, Guido Lapo," 1 s nspec : Dante 

frienJs Cavalcanti and Uberti, though thi :■ been 

perara and one other," (who is 

sed to be the author himself,' " Florentines ; and last, 

ngh not of least regard, Cino da Pistoia. 

* Dante da Majano ^flourished about 1290. He was a Flo- 

:. and composed many poems in praise of a Sicilian 

ing herself a poo:, ss, was insc nsible neither to 

jrses nor his love, so tha: she was called the isina of 

Dante, Pelli. p. 60, and Tiraboschi. Storia della Poes. ItaL, 

v. i. p. 13T. T ; : v;:..; of his s . . : ?ssed to 

ear Poet, who declares, in his answer to one of them, that, 
although he knows not the name of its author, he discovers 

s CM C: ceo Angiolieri. Bocca: a pleasant stt 

the Decameron. G. 9. X. 4. He live ■;-...■: ;ht 
thirteenth century, and wrote several sonnet to I 
are in A c :1s collection. In some of them he wears the seni- 

lance ol friend ; but in one the mask drops, and s b : w s tb a.1 



e been a friend oi 
served any mention 

:ails Dino " in que % 
nze " 



LIFE OF DANTE. 29 

Giovanni di VirgHio ; J Giovanni Quirino ; 2 and 
Francesco Stabili, 3 who is better known by tho 
appellation of Cecco d'Ascoli ; most of them either 
honestly declared their sense of his superiority, or 
betraved it by their vain endeavors to detract from 
the estimation in which he was held. 

He is said to have attained some excellence in 
the art of designing ; which may easily be believed, 
when we consider that no poet has afforded more 
lessons to the statuary and the painter, 4 in the va- 
rietv of objects which he represents, and in the 
accuracy and spirit with which they are brought 
before the eye. Indeed, on one occasion, 6 he men- 
tions that he was employed in delineating the figure 
of an angel, on the first anniversary of Beatrice's 
death. It is not unlikely that the seed of the Pa- 
radiso was thus cast into his mind : and that he 
was now endeavoring to express by the pencil an 
idea of celestial beatitude, which could only be con- 



i Giovanni di Yirgilio addressed two Latin eclogues to 
Dante, which were answered in similar compositions ; and is 
said to have been his friend and admirer. See Boccaccio, 
Vita di Dante ; and Pelli, p. 137. Dante's poetical genius 
sometimes breaks through the rudeness of style in his two 
Latin eclogues. 

2 Muraiori had seen several sonnets, addressed to Giovanni 
Quirino by Dante, in a MS. preserved in the Ambrosian li- 
brary. Delia Perfetta Poesia Ital. Ediz. Venezia, 1770, torn 
i. lib. i. c. iii. p. 9. 

3 For the correction of many errors respecting this writer, 
see Tiraboschi, Stor. della Lett. Ital., torn. v. lib. ii. cap. ii. 
§ 15, &c. He was burned in 1317. In his Acerba, a poem 
in sesta rima, he has taken several occasions of venting his 
spleen against his great contemporary. 

4 Besides Filippo Brunelleschi, who, as Vasari tells us, 
diede molta opera alle cose di Dante, and Michael Angelo, 
whose Last Judgrient is probably the mightiest effort of 
modern art, as the loss of his sketches on the margin of the 
Divina Commedia may be regarded as the severest loss the 
art has sustained; besides these, Andrea Orgagna, Gio. An- 
gelico di Fiesole, Luca Signorelli, Spinelio Aretino, Giaeoma 
da Pontormo, and Aurelio Lomi, have been recounted among 
the many artists who have worked on the same original. 
See Cancellieri, Osservationi, &c. p. 75. To these we may 
justly pride ourselves in being able to ndd the names of Ptey- 
nolds. Fuseli, and Flaxman. The frescoes by Cornelius in 
the Villa Massimi at Rome, lately executed, entitle the Ger- 
mans to a share in this distinction. 

5 " In quel giorno, nel quale si compieva l'anno, che ques- 
ta donna era fatta delle cittadine di vita eterna, io mi sedeva 
in parte, nella quale, ricordandomi di lei, io disegnava nno 
Angelo sopra certe tavolette, e mentre io il disegnava, volsi 
*li occhi, &c." Vita Xuova, p. 268. 



30 LIFE OF DANTE. 

veyed is, <ts full perfection through the medium fil 
song. 

As nothing that related to such a man was 
thought unworthy of notice, one of his biographers,' 
who had seen his hand-writing, has recorded that 
it was of a long and delicate character, and re 
raarkable for neatness and accuracy. 

Dante wrote in Latin a Treatise de Monarchia, 
and two books de Vulgari Eloquio. 2 In the former, 
he defends the Imperial rights against the preten- 
sions of the Pope, with arguments that are some- 
times chimerical, and sometimes sound and con- 
clusive. The latter, which he left unfinished, con- 
tains not only much information concerning the 
progress which the vernacular poetry of Italy had 
then made, but some reflections on the art itself, 
that prove him to have entertained large and philo- 
sophical principles respecting it. 

His Latin style, however, is generally rude and 
unclassical. It is fortunate that he did not trust to 
it., as he once intended, for the work by which his 
name was to be perpetuated. In the use of his 
own language he was, beyond measure, more suc- 
cessful. The prose of his Vita Nuova and his Con- 
vito, although five centuries have intervened since 
its composition, is probably, to an Italian eye, still 
devoid neither of freshness nor elegance. In the 
Vita Nuova, which he appears to have written about 
his twenty-eighth year, he gives an account of his 
youthful attachment to Beatrice. It is, according 
to the taste of those times, somewhat mystical : yet 
there are some particulars in it which have not 
at all the air of a fiction, such as the death of 
Beatrice's father, Folco Portinari ; her relation to 
the friend whom he esteemed next after Guido Ca- 



i "Leonardo Aretino. A specimen of it was believed to 
exist when Peili wrote, about sixty years ago, and perhaps 
still exists in a MS. preserved in the archives at Gubbio, at 
i the end of which was the sonnet to Busone, said to be in the 
hand- writing of Dante. Pelli, p. 51. 

2 These two were first published in an Italian xransia 
tion, supposed to be Trissino's, and were not allowed to 
be genuine, till the Latin original was published at Paris 
in 1577. Tiraboschi. A copy, written in the fourteenth 
century, is said to have been lately found in the public li- 
brary at Grenoble. See Fraticelli's Opere minori di Dante, 
12° Fir. 1840, v. 3. p te ii. p. xvi. A collation of this MS. is 
-very desirable 



LIFE OF DANTE. 31 

ra.canti ; his own attempt to conceal his passion 
by a pretended attachment to another lady ; ana 
the anguish he felt at the death of his mistress. 
He tells us too, that at the time of her decease, 
he chanced to be composing a canzone in her praise, 
and that he was interrupted by that event at the 
conclusion of the first stanza ; a circumstance which 
we can scarcely suppose to have been a mere in- 
vention. 

Of the poetry, with which the Vita Xuova is 
plentifully interspersed, the two sonnets that follow 
may be taken as a specimen. Near the beginning 
he relates a marvellous vision, which appeared to 
him in sleep, soon after his mistress had for the first 
time addressed her speech to him : and of this dream 
ho thus asks for an interpretation : — 

To every heart that feels the gentle flame, 
To whom this present saying conies in sight, 
In that to me their thoughts they may indite, 
All health ! in Love, our lord and muster's name. 

Now on its way the second quarter came 

Of those twelve hours, wherein the stars are bright, 
When Love was seen before me, in such might, 
As to remember shakes with awe my frame. 

Suddenly came he, seeming glad, and keeping 
My heart in hand ; and in his arms he had 
My Lady in a folded garment sleeping : 

He waked her; and that heart all burning bade 
Her feed upon, in lowly guise and sad : 
Then from my view he turned ; and parted, weeping. 

To this sonnet, Guido Cavalcanti, among others, 
returned an answer in a composition of the same 
form ; endeavoring to give a happy turn to the 
dream, by which the mind of the Poet had been so 
deeply impressed. From the intercourse thus begun, 
when Dante was eighteen years of age, arose that 
friendship which terminated only with the death of 
Guido. 

The other sonnet is one that was written after the 
death of Beatrice : — 

Ah pilgrims ! ye that, haply musing, go, 
On aught save that which on your road ye meet, 
From land so distant, tell me, I entreat, 
Come ye, as by your mien and looks ye show 1 



i Beatrice's marriage to Simone de' Bardi, which is coi 
iected from a clause ^in her father's will dated January 15, 
1287, would have been a fact too unsentimental to be intro- 
duced into the Vita Xuova, and is not, I believe, noticed bj 
any of the early biographers. 



32 LIFE OF DANTE. 

Why mourn ye not. as through these {rates of wo 
Ye wend along our city's midmost street, 
Even like those who nothing seem to weet 
What chance hath fall'n, why she is grieving so ? 

If ye to listen but awhile would" stay. 
Well knows this heart, which inly sigheth sore, 
That ye would then pass, weeping on your way. 

Oh hear : her Beatrice is no more ; 

And words there are a man of her might say, 
Would make a stranger's eye that loss deplore. 

In the Convito, 1 or Banquet, which did not fob 
dw till some time after his banishment, he ex- 
plains very much at large the sense of three, out 
of fourteen, of his canzoni, the remainder of which 
he had intended to open in the same maimer. 
" The viands at his Banquet/' he tells his readers, 
quaintly enough, •'•' will be set out in fourteen dif- 
ferent manners ; that is, will consist of fourteen 
canzoni, the materials of which are love and virtue. 
Without the present bread, they would not be free 
from some shade of obscurity, so as to be prized 
by many less for their usefulness than for their 
beauty : but the bread will, in the form of the 
present exposition, be that light, which will bring 
forth all their colors, and display their true mean- 
ing to the view. And if the present work, which 
is named a Banquet, and I wish may prove so, be 
handled after a more manly guise than the Vita 
Nuova, I intend not, therefore, that the former 
should in any part derogate from the latter, but 
that the one should be a help to the other : seeing 
that it is fitting in reason for this to be fervid and 
impassioned ; that, temperate and manly. For it 
becomes us to act and speak otherwise at one age 
than at another ; since at one age, certain man- 
ners are suitable and praiseworthy, which, at an- 
other, become disproportionate and blarneable." He 
then apologizes for speaking of himself. " I fear 
the disgrace,'' says he, " of having been subject to 
so much passion, as one, reading these canzoni, 
may conceive me to have been ; a disgrace, that 
is removed by my speaking thus unreservedly of 



i Perticari (Degli Scrittori del trecento, lib. ii. c. v.) speak 
lng of the Convito, observes that Salviati himself has term?d 
it the most ancient and principal of all excellent prose works 
In Italian. On the other hand, Balbo (Vita di Dante, v. ii. 
p. Sti) pronounces it to be, on the whole, certainly tbe lowest 
among Dante"s writings. In this difference of opinion, a 
^reigner may be permitted to judge for himself! 



LIFE OF DANTE. 33 

myself, wrLeh shows not passion, but virtue, to 
have been the moving cause. I intend, moreover, 
to set forth their true meaning, which some may 
not perceive, if I declare it not." He next pro- 
ceeds to give many reasons why his commentary 
was not written rather in Latin than in Italian ; 
for which, if no excuse be now thought necessary, 
it must be recollected that the Italian language 
was then in its infancy, and scarce supposed to 
possess dignity enough for the purposes of instruc- 
tion. " The Latin," he allows, " would have ex- 
plained Ins canzoni better to foreigners, as to tli6 
Germans, the English, and others ; but then it 
must have expounded their sense, without the 
power of, at the same time, transferring their 
beauty :" and he soon after tells us, that many 
noble persons of both sexes were ignorant of the 
learned language. The best cause, however, which 
he assigns for this preference, was his natural love 
of his native tongue, and the desire he felt to exalt 
it above the Provencal, which by many was said 
to be the more beautiful and perfect language ; and 
against such of his countrymen as maintained so 
unpatriotic an opinion he inveighs with much 
warmth. 

In his exposition) of the first canzone of the three, 
he tells his reader, that " the Lady, of whom he 
was enamored after his first love, was the most 
beauteous and honorable daughter of the Emperor 
of the universe, to whom Pythagoras gave the name 
of Philosophy :" and he applies the same title to the 
object of his affections, when he is commenting on 
the other two. 

The purport of his third canzone, which is less 
mysterious, and, therefore, perhaps more likely to 
pleaso than the others, is to show that " virtue only 
is true nobility." Tow T ards the conclusion, after 
having spoken of virtue itself, much as Pindar w T ould 
have spoken of it, as being " the gift of God only ;" 
Che sdIo Iddio all' anima la dona, 

he thus describes 't as acting throughout the severs* 
Btages of life. 

L'anima, cui adorna, &c. 

The soul, that goodness like to this adorns, 
Holdeth it not conceal'd ; 
But, from her first espousal to the frame, 
Shows it, till death, reveal'd. 



34 LIFE OF DANTE. 

Obedient, sweet, and full of seemly shame. 

She, in the primal age, 

The person decks with beauty; moulding it 

Fitly through every part. 

In riper manhood, temperate, firm of heart, 

"With love replenished, and with courteous praisa 

In loyal deeds alone she hath delight. 

And, in her elder days. 

For prudent and just largeness is she known ; 

Rejoicing with herself, 

That wisdom in her staid discourse be shown. 

Then, in life's fourth division, at the last 

She weds with God again, 

Contemplating the end she shall attain ; 

And iooketh back ; and blesseth the time past. 

His lyric poems, indeed, generally stand much, in 
need of a comment to explain them : but the diffi- 
culty arises rather from the thoughts themselves, 
than from any imperfection of the language in which 
those thoughts are conveyed. Yet they abound not 
only in deep moral reflections, but in touches of 
tenderness and passion. 

Some, it has been already intimated, have sup- 
posed that Beatrice was only a creature of Dante's 
imagination ; and there can be no question but that 
he has invested her, in the Divina Commedia, with 
the attributes of an allegorical being. But who can 
doubt of her having had a real existence, when she is 
spoken of in such a strain of passion as in these lines ? 

Quel ch' ella par, quando un poco sorride, 

Xon si pub dicer ne tenere a mente, 

Si e nuovo miracolo e gentile. Vita Nuova. 

Mira che quando ride 

Passa ben di dolcezza ogni altra cosa. Cava, xv. 

The canzone, from which the last couplet is taken, 
presents a portrait which might well supply a painter 
with a far more exalted idea of female beauty, than 
he could form to himself from the celebrated Ode of 
Anacreon on a similar subject. After a minute de- 
scription of those parts of her form, which the gar- 
ments of a modest woman would suffer to be seen, 
he raises the whole by the superaddition of a moral 
grace and dignity, such as the Christian religion 
alone could supply, and such as the pencil of Raphael 
afterwards aimed to represent. 

Untile vergognosa e temperata, 
E sempre a vertu grata, 
Intra suoi be' costumi un atto regna, 
Che d' ogni riverenza la fa degna. 1 

i I am aware that this canzone is not ascribed to Dante, 
«n the collection of SDnetti e Canzoni priKted by the Giunti 



LIFE OF DANTE. 3* 

One or two of the sonnets prove that he could at 
times condescend to sportiveness and pleasantry, 
The following to Brunetto, I should conjecture to 
have been sent with his Vita Niiova, which waa 
written the year before Brunetto died. 
1 Master Brunetto, this I send, entreating. 

Ye'll entertain this lass of mine at Easter ; 
She does not come among you as a feaster ; 
Xo : she has need of reading, not of eating. 
Nor let her find 3*011 at some merry meeting, 

Laughing amidst buffoons and drollers, lest her 
Wise sentence should escape a noisy jester *. 
She must be wooed, and is well worth the weeting. 
If in this sort you fail to make her out, 

You have amongst you many sapient men, 
All famous as was Albert of Cologne. 
I have been posed amid that learned rout. 

And if they cannot spell her right, why then 
Call Master Giano, and the deed is done. 

Another, though on a more serious subject, is yet 
remarkable for a fancifulness, such as that with 
which Chaucer, by a few spirited touches, often 
conveys to us images more striking than others ha\e 
done by repeated and elaborate efforts of skill. 

Came Melancholy to my side one day, 

And said : " I must a little bide with thee :" 
And brought along with her in company 
Sorrow and Wrath. — Quoth I to her, " Away : 

I will have none of you: make no delay-" 

And, like a Greek, she gave me stout reply. 
Then, as she talk'd, I look'd and did espy* 
Where Love was coming onward on the way. 

A garment new of cloth of black he had, 

And on his head a hat of mourning wore ; 
And he, of truth, unfeignedly was cryinjr. 

Forthwith I askM : M What ails thee, caitiff lad V 1 
And he rejoin'd : " Sad thought and anguish sore, 
Sweet brother mine : our lady lies a-dying." 

For purity of diction, the Rime of our author 
are, I think, on the whole, preferred by Muratori 

In 1527 Monti, in his Proposta, under the word "Induare," 
remarks that it is quite in the style of Fazio degli Uberti ; 
and adds, that a very rare MS. possessed by Perticari restores 
it to that writer. On the other hand, Missirini, in a late 
treatise "On the Love of Dante and on the Portrait of Bea- 
trice," printed at Florence in 1832, makes so little doubt of its 
being genuine, that he founds on it the chief argument to 
prove an old picture in his possession to be intended for a 
representation of Beatrice. See Fraticelli's Opere Minori d\ 
Dante, torn. i. p. cciii. 12°, Fir. 1834. 

1 Fraticelli (Ibid., p. cccii. ccciii.) questions the genuine 
ness of this sonnet, and decides on the spuriousness of that 
which follows. 1 do not, in either instance, feel the justness 
of his reasons. 



S6 LIP £ OF DANTE. 

to his Divina Commedia, though that also is aV 
lowed to be a model of the pure Tuscan idiom 
To this singular production, which has not only 
stood the test of ages, but given a tone and color 
to the poetry of modern Europe, and even ani- 
mated the genius of Milton and of Michael Angelo, 
it would be difficult to assign its place according 
to the received rules of criticism. Some have 
termed it an epic poem ; and others, a satire : but 
it matters little by what name it is called. It suf- 
fices that the poem seizes on the heart by its two 
great holds, terror and pity ; detains the fancy by 
an accurate and lively delineation of the objects 
it represent? ; and displays throughout such an 
originality of conception, as leaves to Homer and 
Shakspeare alone the power of challenging the 
pre-eminence or equality. 1 The fiction, it has 



i Yet his pretensions to originality have not been wholly 
unquestioned. Dante, it baa been supposed, was more im- 
mediately influenced in his choice of a subject by the Vision 
of Alberico. written in barbarous Latin prose about the be- 
ginning of the twelfth century. The incident, which is said 
to have given birth to this composition, is not a little mar- 
vellous. Alberico. the son of noble parents, and born at a 
castle in the neighborhood of Alvito. in the diocese of Sora, 
in the year 1101. or soon after, when he had completed his 
ninth year, was seized with a violent fit of illness, which de- 
prived him of his senses for the space of nine days. During 
the continuance of this trance, he had a vision, in which he 
seemed to himself to be carried away by a dove, and con- 
ducted by St. Peter, in company with two angels, through 
Purgatory and Hell, to survey the torments of sinners ; the 
saint giving him information, as they proceeded, respecting 
what he saw : after which they were transported together 
through the seven heavens, and taken up into Paradise, to 
behold the glory of the blessed. As soon as he came to him- 
self again, he was permitted to make profession of a religious 
life in the Monastery of Monte Cassino. As the account he 
gave of his vision was strangely altered in the reports that 
went abroad of it. Girardo the abbot employed one of the 
monks to take down a relation of it. dictated by the month 
of Alberico himself Senioretto, who was chosen abbot in 
11 27. not contented with this narrative, although it seemed 
to have every chance of being authentic, ordered Alberico 
to revise and correct it. which he accordingly did, with tht 
assistance of Pietro Diacono. who was his associate in thj 
monastery. and a few years younger than himself: and whose 
testimony to his extreme and perpetual self-mortification, 
and to a certain abstractedness of demeanor, which showed 
him to converse with other thoughts than those of this life, 
is still on record. The time of Alberico's death is not known ; 
but it is conjectured that he reached to a good old age. Hi3 
Vision, with a preface by the first editor, Guido. and prece- 
ded by a letter from Alberico himself, is preserver] in a MS 



LIFE CF DANTE. 37 

been remarked, 1 is admirable, and the work o r 
an inventive talent truly great. It comprises a 



numbered 257 in the archives of the monastery, which con- 
tains the works of Pietro Diacono, and which was written 
between the years 1159 and 1181. The probability of our Po- 
et's having been indebted to it, was first remarked either by 
Giovanni Bottari in a letter inserted in the Deca di Simbeli, 
and printed at Rome in 1753; or, as F. Cancellieri conjectures, 
in the preceding year by Alessio Simmaco Mazzocchi. In 
1801, extracts from Alberico's Vision were laid before tke pub- 
lic in a quarto pamphlet, printed at Rome with the title of 
Lettera di Eu-tazio Dicearcheo ad Angelio Sidicino, under 
which appellations the writer, Giustino di Costanzo, con- 
cealed his own name and that of his friend Luigi Anton. 
Sompano; and the whole has since, in 1814. been edited in 
the same city by Francesco Cancellieri, who has added to the 
original an Italian translation. Such parts of it as bear a 
marked resemblance to passages in the Divina Commedia, 
will be found distributed in their proper places throughout 
the following notes. The reader will in these probably see 
enough to convince him that our author had read this singu- 
lar work, although nothing to detract from his claim to origi- 
nality. 

Long before the public notice had been directed to this 
supposed imitation, Malatesta Porta, in the Dialogue entitled 
Rossi, as referred to by Fontanini in his Eloquenza Italiana, 
had suggested the probability that Dante had taken his plan 
from an ancient romance called Guerrino di Durazzo il Mes- 
chino The above-mentioned Bottari, however, adduced rea- 
sons lor concluding that this book was written originally in 
Provencal, and not translated into Italian till after the time 
of our Poet, by one Andrea di Barberino, who embellished it 
with many images, and particularly with similes, borrowed 
from the Divina Commedia. 

Mr. Warton, in one part of his History of English Poetry, 
(vol. i. s. xviii. p. 463.) has observed, that a poem, entitled Le 
Yoye on le Songe d'Enfer, was written byRaoul de Houdane, 
about the year 11S0 ; and in another part (vol. ii. s x. p. 219) 
he has attributed the origin of Dante's Poem to that M favor 
ite apologue, the Somnium Scipionis of Cicero, which, id 
Chaucer's words, treats 

of heaven and hell 
And vearth and souls that therein dwell." 

Assembly of Foules. 

It is likely that a little research might discover many other 
pour.es, from which his invention might with an equal ap- 
pearance of truth be derived. The method of conveying in- 
struction or entertainment under the form of a vision, in 
which the living should be made to converse with the dead, 
was so obvious, that it would be, perhaps, difficult to mention 
any country in which it had not been employed. It is the 
scale of magnificence on which this conception was framed, 
and the wonderful development of it in all its parts, tha 
may justly entitle our Poet to rank among the few minds, 
to whom "the power of a great creative faculty can be as 
eribed. 

1 Leorardo Aretino, Vita di Dante 
4 



38 LIFE OF DANTE. 

description of the heavens and heavenly bodies ; & 
description of men, their deserts and punishments, 
of supreme happiness and utter misery, and of the 
middle state between the two extremes : nor, per- 
haps, was there ever any one who chose a more am 
pie and fertile subject ; so as to afford scope for the 
expression of all his ideas, from the vast multitude of 
spirits that are introduced speaking on such different 
topics ; who are of so many different countries and 
ages, and under circumstances of fortune so striking 
and so diversified ; and who succeed, one to another, 
with such a rapidity as never suffers the attention for 
an instant to pall. 

His solicitude, it is true, to define all his images 
in such a manner as to bring them distinctly within 
the circle of our vision, and to subject them to the 
power of the pencil, sometimes renders him little 
better than grotesque, where Milton has since 
taught us to expect sublimity. But his faults, in 
general, were less those of the poet than of the age 
in which he lived. For his having adopted the pop- 
ular creed in all its extravagance, we have no more 
right to blame him than we should have to blame 
Homer because he made use of the heathen dei- 
ties, or Shakspeare on account of his witches and 
fairies. The supposed influence of the stars on the 
disposition of men at their nativity, was hardly sep- 
arable from the distribution which he had made 
of the glorified spirits through the heavenly bodies, 
as the abodes of bliss suited to their several endow- 
ments. And whatever philosophers may think of 
the matter, it is certainly much better, for the ends 
of poetry at least, that too much should be believed, 
rather than less, or even no more than can be proved 
to be true. Of what he considered the cause of 
civil and religious liberty, he is on all occasions the 
zealous and fearless advocate ; and of that higher 
freedom, which is seated in the will, he was an 
assertor equally strenuous and enlightened. The 
contemporary of Thomas Aquinas, it is not to be 
wondered if he has given his poem a tincture of 
the scholastic theology which the writings of that 
extraordinary man had rendered so prevalent, and 
without which it could not perhaps have been made 
acceptable to the generality of his readers. The 
phraseology has been accused of being at times hard 
and uncouth; but, if this is acknowledged, yet i* 



LIFE OF DANTE. 39 

must be remembered that he gave a permanent 
6tamp and character to the language in which he 
wrote, and in which, before him, nothing great had 
been attempted ; that the diction is strictly vernacu- 
lar, without any debasement of foreign idiom ; that 
his numbers have as much variety as the Italian 
tongue, at least in that kind of metre, could supply ; 
and that, although succeeding writers may have sur- 
passed him in the lighter graces and embellishments 
of style, not one of them has equalled him in suc- 
cinctness, vivacity, and strength. 

Never did any poem rise so suddenly into notice 
after the death of its author, or engage the public 
attention more powerfully, than the Divina Corn- 
media. This cannot be attributed solely to its intrin- 
sic excellence. The freedom with which the writer 
had treated the most distinguished characters of his 
time, gave it a further and stronger hold on the cu- 
riosity of the age : many saw in it their acquaint- 
ances, kinsmen, and friends, or, what scarcely touch- 
ed them less nearly, their enemies, either consigned 
to infamy or recorded with honor, and represented in 
another world as tasting 

Of heaven's sweet cup, or poisonous drug of hell ; 

60 that not a page could be opened without exciting 
the strongest personal feelings in the mind of the 
reader. These sources of interest must certainly 
be taken into our account, when we consider the 
rapid diffusion of the work, and the unexampled 
pains that were taken to render it universally in- 
telligible. Not only the profound and subtile alle- 
gory which pervaded it, the mysterious style of 
prophecy which the writer occasionally assumed, 
the bold and unusual metaphors which he every- 
where employed, and the great variety of know- 
ledge he displa}~ed ; but his hasty allusions to pass- 
ing events, and his description of persons by acci- 
dental circumstances, such as some peculiarity of 
form or feature, the place of their nativity or abode, 
some office they held, or the heraldic insignia they 
bore — all asked for the help of commentators and 
expounders, who were not long wanting to the task. 
Besides his two sons, to whom that labor most prop- 
erly belonged, many others were found ready to 
engage in it. Before the century had expired, 
there appeared the commentaries of Accorso do' 



40 LIFE OF DANTK 

Bonfantini, 1 a Franciscan ; of Micchino da Mez- 
zano, a canon of Ravenna ; of Fra. Riccardo, a 
Carmelite ; of Andrea, a Neapolitan ; of Guiniforte 
Bazzisio, a Bergamese ; of Fra. Paolo Albertino , 
and of several writers whose names are unknown 
and whose toils, when Pelli wrote, were concealed 
in the dust of private libraries. 2 About the year 
1350, Giovanni Visconti, archbishop of Milan, se- 
lected six of the most learned men in Italy, two 
divines, two philosophers, and two Florentines ; 
and gave it them in charge to contribute the'r joint 
endeavors towards the compilation of an ample 
comment, a copy of which is preserved in the Lau- 
rentian library at Florence. Whose these were 
is no longer known ; but Jacopo della Lana, 8 and 
Petrarch, are conjectured to have been among the 
number. At Florence, a public lecture was found- 
ed for the purpose of explaining a poem, that was 
at the same time the boast and the disgrace of the 
city. The decree for this institution was passed 
in 1373 ; and in that year Boccaccio, the first of 
their writers in prose, was appointed, with an an- 
nual salary of a hundred florins, to deliver lectures 
in one of the churches, on the first of their poets 
On this occasion he wrote his comment, which ex- 
tends only to a part of the Inferno, and has been 
printed. In 1375 Boccaccio died ; and among his 
successors in this honorable employment we find the 
names of Antonio Piovano in 1381, and of Filippo 
Villani in 1401. 

The example of Florence was speedily followed 
by Bologna, by Pisa, by Piacenza, and by Venice. 
Benvenuto da Imola, on whom the office of lec- 
turer devolved at Bologna, sustained it for the 



i Tiraboschi, Stor. della Poes. Ital., vol. ii. p. 39 ; and Pelli, 
p. 119. 

s The Letlera di Eustazio Dicearcheo, &c, mentioned above v 
p 37, contains many extracts from an early MS. of the Divina 
Commedia, with marginal notes in Latin, preserved in the 
monastery of Monte Cassino. To these extracts 1 shall have 
iicquent occasion to refer. 

3 Pelli; p. 119, informs us, that the writer, who is termed 
sometimes " the good," sometimes the " old commentator," 
by those deputed to correct the Decameron, in the preface to 
their explanatory notes, and who began his work in 1334, is 
known to be Jacopo della Lana; and that his commentary 
was translated into Latin by Alberigo da Rosada, Doctor of 
Laws at Bologna 



LIFE OF DANTE. 41 

«pace of ten years. From the comment, which he 
composed for the purpose, and which he sent abroad 
m 1379, those passages that tend to illustrate the 
history of Italy, have been published by Muratori. 1 
At Pisa, the same charge was committed to Fran- 
cesco da Buti about 1386. 

On the invention of printing, in the succeeding 
century, Dante was one of those writers who were 
first and most frequently given to the press. But I 
do not mean to enter on an account of the numerous 
editions of our author, which were then, or have 
since been published ; but shall content myself with 
adding such remarks as have occurred to me on 
reading the principal writers, by whose notes those 
editions have been accompanied. 

Of the four chief commentators on Dante, name- 
ly, Landino, Vellutello, Venturi, and Lombardi, the 
first appears to enter most thoroughly into the mind 
of the Poet. Within little more than a century of 
the time in which Dante had lived ; himself a Flo- 
rentine, while Florence was still free, and still re- 
tained something of her ancient simplicity ; the 
associate of those great men who adorned the age 
of Lorenzo de' Medici ; Landino 2 was the most 
capable of forming some estimate of the mighty 
stature of his compatriot, who was indeed greater 
than them all. His taste for the classics, which 
were then newly revived, and had become the prin- 
cipal objects of public curiosity, as it impaired his 
relish for what has not inaptly been termed the ro- 
mantic literature, did not, it is true, improve him for 
, a critic on the Divina Commedia. The adventures 
of King Arthur, by which 3 Dante had been de- 
lighted, appeared to Landino no better than a fabu- 
lous and inelegant book. 4 He is, besides, sometimes 
unnecessarily prolix ; at others, silent, where a real 



1 Antiq. Ital. v. i. The Italian comment published under 
the name of Benvenuto da imola, at Milan, in 1473, and at 
Venice in 1477, is altogether different from that which Mura- 
tori has brought to light, and appears to be the same as the 
Italian comment of Jacopo della Lana before mentioned. 
See Tiraboschi. 

2 Cristofforo Landino was born in 1424, and died in 1504 ox 
1508. See Bandini, Specimen Litterat. Florent. Edit. Flo- 
rence, 1751. 

3 Ser note to Purgatory, xxvi. 132. 

4 " 1 favoloso, e non molto elegante libro della Tavola Ro 
londa. Landino, in the notes to the Paradise, xvi. 



42 LIFE OF DANTE. 

difficulty asks for solution ; and, now and then, a 
little visionary in his interpretation. The commen- 
tary of his successor. VellnteUo, 1 is more evenlj 
diffused over the and although without pre- 

tensions to the higher qualities, by which Landino 
: L s:ingnished, he is generally under the influence 
of a sober good sense, which renders him a steady 
and useful guide. Venturi, 2 who followed after a 
long interval of time, was too much sprayed by his 
principles, or bis prejudices, as a Jesuit, to suffer 
him tc judge fairly of a Ghibelline poet ; and either 
this has, or a real want of tact for the higher 
excellence of his author, or, perhaps, both these im- 
perfections together, betray him into such imperti- 
nent and injudicious sallies, as dispose us to quarrel 
with our companion, though, in the main, a 
attentive one, generally acute and lively, and at 
times even not devoid of a better understanding for 
the merits of his master. To him, aud in our own 
times, has succeeded the Padre LombardL 3 This 
good Franciscan, no doubt, must have given him- 
self much pains to pick out and separate those ears 
of grain, which had escaped the flail of those who 
had gone before him in that labor. But his zeal 
to do something new :.:-::. leads him to do some- 
thing that is not over wise ; and if on certain occa- 
sions we applaud his sagaciousness, on others we do 
not less wonder that his ingenuity should have been 
so strangely perverted H.s manner of writing is 
awkward and tedious : his attention, more than is 
necessary, directed to grammatical niceties ; and his 
attachment to one of the old editions, so excessive, 
as to render him disingenuous or partial in his repre- 
sentation of the rest. But to compensate this, he is 
a £Ood Ghibelline ; and his opposition to Venturi 
seldom fails to av.aken him into a perception of 
those beauties which had only exercised the spleen 
of the Jesuit. 

He who shall undertake another commentary 09 
Dante, 4 yet completer than any of those which have 



1 Alessacdro Vellutello was born in 1519. 

2 Pompeo Venturi was born in 1693, and I - in 1733 

3 Baldassare Lonibardi die a i C ancel 
lien. Osservazioni, &x. Roma. 181-1. p. 112 

4 Francesco Cionacci, a noble Florentine, projected an edi 
tion of the Divina Corn media in one hundred volumes, each 
containing a single canto, followed by all the commentaries 



LIFE OF DANTE. 43 

hitherto appeared, must make use of these four, but 
depend on none. To them he must add several 
others of minor note, whose diligence will neverthe- 
less be found of some advantage, and among whom 
I can particularly distinguish Volpi. Besides this, 
many commentaries and marginal annotations, that 
are yet inedited, remain to be examined ; many 
editions and manuscripts 1 to be more carefully col- 
lated ; and many separate dissertations and works 
of criticism to be considered. But this is not all. 
That line of reading which the Poet himself appears 
to have pursued (and there are many vestiges in his 
works by which we shall be enabled to discover it) 
must be diligently tracked ; and the search, I have 
little doubt, would lead to sources of information, 
equally profitable and unexpected. 

If there is any thing of novelty in the notes 
which accompany the following translation, it will 
be found to consist chiefly in a comparison of the 
Poet with himself, that is, of the Divina Commedia 
with his other writings ; 2 a mode of illustration so 
obvious, that it is only to be wondered how others 
should happen to have made so little use of it. As 
to the imitations of my author by later poets, Italian 
and English, which I have collected in addition to 
those few that had been already remarked, they 
contribute little or nothing to the purposes of illus- 
tration, but must be considered merely as matter of 
curiosity, and as instances of the manner in which 
the great practitioners in art do not scruple to profit 
by their predecessors. 



according to the order of time in which they were written, 
and accompanied by a Latin translation for the use of for- 
eigners. Canccl/icri, ibid. p. 64. 

1 The Count Mortara has lately shown me many various 
readings he has remarked on collating the numerous MSS. 
of Dante in the Canonici collection at the Bodleian. It is to 
be hoped he will make them public. [Jan. 1843. J 

r * The edition which is referred to in the following notes 
Is that printed at Venice in 2 vols. 8vo. 1793 



CHRONOLOGICAL VIEW 

OF 

THE AGE OF DANTE 



A. D 

1265 May.— DANTE, son of Alighieri degli All 

ghieri and Bella, is born at Florence. Of 

his own ancestry he speaks in the Paradise, 

Canto xv. and xvi. 
In the same year, Manfredi, king of Naples 

and Sicily, is defeated and slain by Charles 

of Anjou. H. xxviii. 13, and Purg. hi. 110. 
Guido Novello of Polenta obtains the sovei 

eignty of Ravenna. H. xxvii. 38. 
Battle of Evesham. Simon de Montfort, lead 

er of the barons, defeated and slain. 

1266 Two of the Frati Godenti chosen arbitrators of 

the differences of Florence. H. xxiii. 104. 
Gianni de' Soldanieri heads the populace in 

that city. H. xxxii 118. 
Roger Bacon sends a copy of his Opus Majus 
to Pope Clement IV. 
:268 Charles of Anjou puts Conradine to death, 
and becomes king of Naples. H. xxviii. 16, 
and Purg. xx. 66. 
1270 Louis IX. of France dies before Tunis. His 
widow Beatrice, daughter of Raymond Be- 
renger, lived till 1295. Purg. vii. 126. Par 
vi. 135. 
1272 Henry III. of England is succeeded by Ed- 
ward I. Purg. vii. 129. 
Guy de Montfort murders Prince Henry, son 
of Richard, king of the Romans, and ne- 
phew of Henry III. of England, at Viterbo 
H. xii. 119. Richard dies, as is supposed, 
of grief for this event. 
Abulfeda, the Arabic writer, is born. 
1274 Our Poet first sees Beatrice, daughter of Folco 
Portinari. 
Rodolph acknowledged emperor. 
Philip III. of France marries Mary of Bra- 
bant, who lived till 1321. Purg. vi. 24. 



CHRONOLOGICAL VIEW. 45 

A. D. 

1274 Thomas Aquinas dies. Purg. xx. 67, and Par 

x. 96 
Buonaventura dies. Par. xii. 25. 

1275 Pierre de la Brosse, secretary to Philip III. of 

France, executed. Purg. vi. 23. 

1276 Giotto, the painter, is born. Purg. xi. 95. 
Pope Adrian V. dies. Purg. xix. 97. 

Guido Guinicelli, the poet, dies. Purg. xi. 96, 
and xxvi. 83. 

1277 Pope John XXI. dies. Par. xii. 126. 

1278 Ottocar, king of Bohemia, dies. Purg. vii. 

97. Robert of Gloucester is living at this 
time. 

1279 Dionysius succeeds to the throne of Portugal 

Par. xix. 135. 

1280 Albertus Magnus dies. Par. x. 95. 

Our Poet's friend, Busone da Gubbio, is born 
about this time. See the Life of Dante pre- 
fixed. 

William of Ockham is born about this time. 

1281 Pope Nicholas III. dies. H. xix. 71. 

Dante studies at the universities of Bologna 
and Padua. 

About this time Ricordano Malaspina, the Flo- 
rentine annalist, dies. 

1282 The Sicilian vespers. Par. viii. 80. 

The French defeated by the people of Forli. 

H. xxvii. 41. 
Tribaldelio de' Manfredi betrays the city of 

Faenza. H. xxxii. 119. 

1284 Prince Charles of Anjou is defeated, and made 

prisoner by Rugier de Lauria, admiral to 
Peter III. of Aragon. Purg. xx. 78. 

Charles I. king of Naples, dies. Purg. vii. 111. 

Alonzo X. of Castile, dies. He caused the 
Bible to be translated into Castilian, and all 
legal instruments to be drawn up in that 
language. Sancho IV. succeeds him. 

Philip (next year IV. of France) marries Jane, 
daughter of Henry of Navarre. Purg. vii. 
102. 

1285 Pope Martin IV. dies. Purg. xxiv. 23. 
Philip III. of France and Peter III. of Aragon 

die. Purg. vii. 101 and 110. 
Henry II. king of Cyprus, comes to the throna 
Par. xix. 144. 



46 CHRONOLOGICAL VIEW 

A. D. 

1285 Simon Memmi, the painter, celebrated by Pe- 
trarch, is born. 

1287 Guido dalle Colonne (mentioned by Dante in 

his De Vulgari Eloquio) writes " The War 
of Troy.' 5 
Pope Honorius IV. dies 

1288 Haquin, king of Norway, makes war on Den- 

mark. Par. xix. 135. 

Count Ugolino de' Gherardeschi dies of famine. 
H. xxxiii. 14. 

The Scottish poet, Thomas Learmouth, com- 
monly called Thomas the Rhymer, is living 
at this time. 

1289 Dante is in the battle of Campaldino, where 

the Florentines defeat the people of Arezzo, 
June 11. Purg. v. 90. 

1290 Beatrice dies. Purg. xxxii. 2. 

He serves in the war waged by the Floren- 
tines upon the Pisans, and is present al 
the surrender of Caprona in the autumn. 
H. xxi. 92. 

Guido dalle Colonne dies. 

"William, marquis of Montferrat, is made pris- 
oner by his traitorous subjects, at Alessan • 
dria in Lombardy. Purg. vii. 133. 

Michael Scot dies. H. xx. 115. 

1291 Dante marries Gemma de' Donati, with whom 

he lives unhappily. By this marriage ho 

had five sons and a daughter. 
Can Grande della Scala is born, March 9. 

H. i. 98. Purg. xx. 16. Par. xvii. 75, and 

xxvii. 135. 
The renegade Christians assist the Saracens to 

recover St. John D'Acre. H. xxvii. 84. 
The Emperor Rodolph dies. Purg. vi. 104, 

and vii. 91. 
Alonzo III. of Aragon dies, and is succeeded 

by James II. Purg. vii. 113, and Par. xix 

133. 
Eleanor, widow of Henry III. dies. Par. vi. 135. 

1292 Pope Nicholas IV. dies. 
Roger Bacon dies. 

John Baliol, king of Scotland, crowned. 
»294 Clement V. abdicates the papal chair. IL 
iii. 56. 
Dante writes his Vita Nuova. 



OF THE AGE OF DANTE 47 

4.D. 

L294 Fra Guittone d'Arezzo, the poet, dies. Purg, 
xxiv. 56. 
Andrea Taffi, of Florence, the worker in Mo- 
saic, dies. 

1295 Dante's preceptor, Brunetto Latini, dies. II. 

xv. 28. 

Charles M artel, king of Hungary, visits Flo- 
rence. Par. viii. 57, and dies in the same 
year. 

Frederick, son of Peter III. of Aragon, be- 
comes king of Sicily. Piirg. vii. 117, a.id 
Par. xix. 127. 

Taddeo, the physician of Florence, called the 
Hippocratean, dies. Par. xii. 77. 

Marco Polo, the traveller, returns from the 
East to Venice. 

Ferdinand IV. of Castile comes to the throne. 
Par. xix. 122. 

1296 Forese, the companion of Dante, dies. Purg 

xxxiii. 44. 

Sadi, the most celebrated of the Persian wri- 
ters, dies. 

War between England and Scotland, which 
terminates in the submission of the Scots to 
Edward I. ; but in the following year, Sir 
William Wallace attempts the deliverance 
of Scotland. Par. xix. 121. 
1298 The Emperor Adolphus falls in a battle with 
his rival, Albert I., who succeeds him in the 
Empire. Purg vi. 98. 

Jacopo da Varagine, archbishop of Genoa, 
author of the Legenda Aurea, dies. 

1300 The Bianca and Nera parties take their riso 

in Pistoia. H. xxxii. 60. 
This is the year in which he supposes him 

self to see his vision. H. i. 1, and xxi 

109. 
He is chosen chief magistrate, or first of the 

Priors of Florence : and continues in ofriea 

from June 15 to August 15. 
Cimabue, the painter, dies. Purg. xi. 93. 
Guido Cavalcanti, the most beloved of oui 

Poet's friends, dies. H. x. 59, and Purg 

xi. 96. 

1301 The Bianca party expels the Nera from Pistoia, 

H. xxiv. 142. 



48 CHRONOLOGICAL VIEW 

A. D. 

1302 January 27. During his absence at Rome^ 

Dante is mulcted by his fellow-citizens in 

the sum of 8000 lire, and condemned to two 

years' banishment. 
March 10. He is sentenced, if taken, to be 

burned. 
Fulcieri de' Calboli commits great atrocities 

on certain of the Ghibelline party. Purg. 

xiv. 61. 
Carlino de' Pazzi betrays the castle di Piano 

Travigne, in Valdarno, to the Florentines 

H. xxxii. 67. 
The French vanquished in the battle of Cour- 

trai. Purg. xx. 47. 
James, king of Majorca and Minorca, dies 

Par. xix. 133. 

1303 Pope Boniface VIII. dies. H. xix. 55. Purg 

xx. 86 ; xxxii. 146, and Par. xxvii. 20. 

The other exiles appoint Dante one of a 
council of twelve, under Alessandro da 
Romena. He appears to have been much 
dissatisfied with his colleagues. Par. xvii 
61. 

Robert of Brunne translates into English verse 
the Manuel de Peches, a treatise written in 
French by Robert Grosseteste, bishop of 
Lincoln. 

1304 Dante joins with the exiles in an unsuccessful 

attack on the city of Florence. 

May. The bridge over the Amo breaks 
down during a representation of the infer- 
nal torments exhibited on that river. H 
xxvi. 9. 

July 20. Petrarch, whose father had been 
banished two years before from Floience, is 
born at Arezzo. 

1305 Winceslaus II. king of Bohemia, dies. Purg 

vii. 99, and Par. xix. 123. 
A conflagration happens at Florence. II 

xxvi. 9. 
Sir William Wallace is executed at London. 

1306 Dante visits Padua. 

1307 He is in Lunigiana with the Marchese Mar 

cello Malaspina. Purg. viii. 133 ; xix. 140 
Dolcino, the fanatic, is burned. H. xxviii. 5 J 
Edward II. of England comes to the throne. 



OF THE AGE OF DANTE. 40 

A. D. 

1308 Tiie Emperor Albert I. murdered. Purg. vi 

98, and Far. xix. 114. 
Corso Donati, Dante's political enemy, slain, 

Purg. xxiv. 81. 
He seeks an asylum at Verona, under the roof 

of the Signori deila Scala. Par. xvii. 69. 
He wanders, about this time, oyer various parts 

of Italy. See his Convito. He is at Paris 

a second time ; and, according to one of the 

early commentators, visits Oxford. 
Robert, the patron of Petrarch, is crowned 

king of Sicily. Par. ix. 2. 
Duns Scotus dies. He was born about the 

same time as Dante. 

1309 Charles II. king of Xaples dies. Par. xix- 

125. 

1310 The Order of the Templars abolished. Purg 

xx. 94. 

Jean de Meun, the continuer of the Roman 
de la Rose, dies about this time. 

Pier Crescenzi of Bologna writes his book on 
agriculture, in Latin. 
13] 1 Fva Giordano da Rivalta, of Pisa, a Domi- 
nican, the author of sermons esteemed foi 
the purity of the Tuscan language, dies. 

1312 Robert, king of Sicily, opposes the corona 

tion of the Emperor Henry VII. Par. viii 
59. 

Ferdinand IV. of Castile, dies, and is succeed- 
ed by Alonzo XL 

Dino Compagni, a distinguished Florentine, 
concludes his history of his own time, writ- 
ten in elegant Italian. 

Gaddo Gaddi, the Florentine artist, dies. 

1313 The Emperor Henry of Luxemburgh, by 

whom he had hoped to be restored to Flor- 
ence, dies. Par. xvii. 80, and xxx. 135 
Henry is succeeded by Lewis of Bavaria. 

Dante takes refuge at Ravenna, with Guide 
Novello da Polenta. 

Giovanni Boccaccio is born 

Pope Clement V. dies. H. xix. 86, and Par 
xxvii. 53, and xxx. 141 

1314 Philip IV. of France dies. Purg. vii 103, ana 

Par. xix. 117. 
Louis X. succeeds 
5 



50 CHRONOLOGICAL VTEW; 

A. B 

1314 Ferdinand IV. of Spain, dies. Par. xix. 12& 

Giacopo da Carrara defeated by Can Graadej 
who makes himself Master of Vicenza. 
Par. ix. 45. 

1315 Louis X. of France marries Clemenza, sister 

to our Poet's friend, Charles Martel, king 

of Hungary. Par. ix. 2. 
J316 Louis X. of France dies, and is succeeded bv 

Philip V. 
John XXII. elected Pope. Par. xxvii. 53. 
Joinville, the French historian, dies about thi& 

v'me. 
!320 About this time John Gower is born, eigh'. 

years before his friend Chaucer. 
K Q 2] July. Dante dies at Ravenna, of a complain* 

brought on by disappointment at Ins failure 

in a negotiation winch he had been con 

ducting with the Venetian?, for hvs patroc 

Guido Novello da Polenta. 
His obsequies are sumptuously performed at 

Ravenna by Guido, who himself died in tlu* 

ensuing year 



THE VISION OF DANTE. 



HELL. 



CANTO I. 



ARGUMENT. 

The writer, having lost his way in a gloomy forest, and bemg 
hindered Ly certain wild beasts from ascending a mountain 
is met by Virgil, who promises to show him the punish- 
ments of Hell, and afterwards of Purgatory ; and that ho 
shall then be conducted by Beatrice into Paradise. He 
follows the Roman poet. 

In the midway 1 of this our mortal life, 
I found me in a gloomy wood, astray- 
Gone from the path direct : and e'en to tell, 
It were no easy task, how savage wild 
That forest, how robust and rough its growth, 
Which to remember 2 only, my dismay 
Renews, in bitterness not far from death. 
Yet, to discourse of what there good befell, 
All else w T ill I relate discover'd there. 

How first I enter'd it I scarce can say, 
Such sleepy dulness in that instant weigh'd 



1 In the midway.] That the uera of the Poem is intended by 
these words to be fixed to the thirty-fifth year of the poet's 
age, A. D. 1300, will appear more plainly in Canto xxi., where 
that date is explicitly marked. 

In his Convito, human life is compared to an arch or bow, 
the highest point of which is, in those well framed by nature, 
at their thirty-fifth year. Opere di Dante, ediz. Ven 8vo, 
793, t. i. p. 195. 

2 Which to remember.] " Even when I remember I am 
afraid, and trembling taketh hold on my flesh." Job xxi 6- 



1,2 THE VISION. 12-Zj 

My senses down., when the true path I left ; 

But when a mountain's foot I reach'd, where closed 

The valley that had pierced my heart with dread, 
I look ? d aloft, and caw his shoulders broad 
Already vested with that planet's beam. 1 
Who leads all wanderers safe through every wav 

Then was a little respite to the fear, 
That in my heart's recesses 2 deep had lain 
All of that night, so pitifully pass'd : 
And as a man, with difficult short breath, 
Forespent with toiling, 'scaped from sea to shore 5 
Turns 3 to the perilous wide waste, and stands 
At gaze : e'en so my spirit, that yet fail'd, 
Struggling with terror, turn'd to view the straits 
That none hath pass'd and lived. My weary frams 
After short pause recomforted, again 
I journey'd on over that lonely steep, 
The hinder foot still firmer. 4 Scarce the b scent 
Began, when lo ! a panther,* nimble, light, 
And cover'd with a speckled skin, appear'd : 
Xor, when it saw me, vanish'd ; rather strove* 
To check my onward going ; that oft-times. 
With purpose to retrace my steps, I turn'd. 

The hour was morning's prune, and on his way 
Aloft the sun ascended with those stars, 6 
That with him rose when Love divine first moved 
Those its fair works : so that with joyous hope 
All things conspired to fill me, the gay skin 7 



1 That planet's beam.] The sun. 

2 My heart's recesses.} Nel lago del cuor. 

Lombardi cites an imitation of this by Kedi in his Ditirambo 
buon vini son quegli. che acqutrano 
Le procelle si fosche e rubelle, 
Che nel lago del cuor l'aniine inquietano 
8 Turns.] £o in our Poet's second psalm : 
Come colui. che andando per lo bosco, 

Da spino punto, a quel si volge e guarda 
Even as one. in passing through a wood, 
Pierced by a thorn, at which he turns and looks. 
* The hinder foot.] It is to be remembered, that in as- 
fending a hill the weight of the body rests on the hindel 
foot. 
° A panther.] Pleasure or luxury. 

6 With those stars.] The sun was in Aries, in which sign 
he supposes it to have begun its course at the creation. 

7 The gay skin.} A kv:e editor of the Divina Commedia, 
?ignor Zotti. has spoken of the present translation as the 



40-52. HELL, Canto 1. 53 

Of that swift animal, the matin dawn, 
And the sweet season. Soon that joy was chased- 
And by new dread succeeded, when in view 
A lion 1 came, 'gainst me as it appear' d, 
With his head held aloft and hunger-mad, 
That e'en the air was fear-struck. A she-wolf 3 
Was at his heels, who in her leanness seem'd 
Full of all wants, and many a land hath made 
Disconsolate ere now. She with such fear 
O'erwhelmed me, at the sight of her appall'd, 
That of the height all hope I lost. As one, 
Who, with his gain elated, sees the time 
When all unwares is gone, lie inwardly 



only one that has rendered this passage rightly : but Mr 
flayley had shown me the way, in his very skilful version of 
the first three Cantos of the Inferno, inserted in the notes U 
his Essay on Epic Poetry : 

I now was raised to hope sublime 
By these bright omens of my fate benign, 
The beauteous beast and the sweet hour of prime. 

All the Commentators, whom I have seen, understand ova 
Poet to say that the season of the year and the hour of the 
day induced him to hope for the gay skin of the panther ; and 
there is something in the sixteenth Canto, verse 107, which 
countenances their interpretation, although that which I have 
followed still appears to me the more probable. 

1 A Hon.] Pride or ambition 

2 ft she-wolf. J Avarice 

It cannot be doubted that the image of these three beasts 
coming against him is taken by our author from the prophet 
Jeremiah, v. 6 : " Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay 
them, and a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them, a leopard 
shall watch over their cities." Rossetti, following Dionisi 
and 0-her later Commentators, interprets Dante's leopard to 
denote Florence, his lion the king of France, and his wolf the 
Court of Rome. It is far from improbable that our author 
might have had a second allegory of this sort in his view ; 
even as Spenser in the introductory letter to his poem, tells us 
that "in the Faery Queen he meant Glory in his general in- 
tention, but in his" particular he conceived the most excellent 
and glorious person of his sovereign the Queen." " And yet," 
he adds, " in some places else I do otherwise shadow her." 
Such involution of allegorical meanings may well be supposed 
to have been frequently present to the mind of Dante through- 
out the composition of this poem. Whether his acute and 
eloquent interpreter, Rossetti, may not have been carried 
much too far in the pursuit of a favorite hypothesis, is another 
question; and I must avow my disbelief of the secret jargon 
imputed to our poet and the other writers of that time in the 
Comment on the Divina Commedia and in the Spirito Antipa- 
pale, the latter of which works is familiarized to the Englisb 
leader in Miss W;\rd's faithful translation. 



54 THE VISION. 5*-*u 

Mourns with heart -griping anguish ; such w»as I, 
Haunted by that fell beast, never at peace. 
Who coming o'er against me, by degrees 
Impeird me where the sun in silence rests. 1 

While to the lower space with backward step 
[ fell, my ken discern d the fonn of one [speech 

Whose voice seenrd faint through long disuse of 
When hbn in that great desert I espie-d, 
" Have mercy on me," cried I out aloud, 
" Spirit ! or living man ! whate'er then be." 

He answered : " Xow not man, man once I was. 
And born of Lombard parents, Mantuans both 
By country, when the power of Julius' 2 yet 
Was scarcely firm. At Rome my life was pass'd, 
Beneath the mild Augustus, in the tune 
Of fabled deities and false. A bard 
Was I, and made Anchises' upright son 
The subject of my song, who came from Troy, 
When the flames prey'd on Ilium's haughty towers. 
But thou, say wherefore to such perils past 
Return st thou ? wherefore not this pleasant mount 
Ascendest, cause and source of all delight?" 
•'•' And art thou then that Virgil, that well-spring 
From which such copious floods of eloquence 
Have issued V I with front abash'* d replied. 
" Glory and light of all the tuneful train ! 
May it avail me, that I long with zeal 
Have sought thv volume, and with love immense 



1 JI'Tie/e the sun in silence rests.] 

The sun to me is dark, 
And silent as the moon, 
When she deserts the night. 
Hid in her vacant interlunar cave. 

Milton, Sam Agon, 

7'he same metaphor will recur, Canto v. verse 29. 
Into a place I came 
Where light was silent all. 

£ If lien the power of Julius.] 

Nacqui sub Julio, ancorche fosse tardi. 

This is explained by the Commentators : u Although it were 
rather late with respect to my birth, before Julius Caesar as- 
sumed the supreme authority, and made himself perpetual 
dictator." Virgil, indeed, was born twenty-five years before 
ihat event. 

3 Iliiuns haughty toicers.] 

Ceciiitque superbum 
Ilium. Virgil, JEa. iii. S 



tfl-102. HELL, Canto I. 55 

Have conn'd it o'er. 3Iy master thou, and guide !* 
Thou he from whom alone I have derived 
That style, which for its beauty into fame 
Exalts me. See the beast, from whom I fled. 
O save me from her, thou illustrious sage ! 
For every vein and pulse throughout my frame 
She hath made tremble." He, soon as he saw 
That I was weeping, answer'd, " Thou must needs 
Another way pursue, if thou wouldst 'scape 
From out that savage wilderness. This beast, 
At whom thou criest, her way will suffer none 
To pass, and no less hind'rance makes than death 
So bad and so accursed in her kind 5 
That never sated is her ravenous will, 
Still after food' 2 more craving than before. 
To many an animal in wedlock vile 
She fastens, and shall yet to many more, 
Until that greyhound 3 come, who shall destroy 
Her with sharp pain. He will not life support 
By earth nor its base metals, but by love, 
Wisdom, and virtue ; and his land shall be 
The land 'twixt either Feltro. 4 In his might 



1 J/y master thou, and guide.] 

Tu se' lo mio maestro, e'l mio autore, 
Tu se 1 solo colui. 

Thou art my father, thou my author, thou. 

Jlilton, P. Z,., ii. SG4. 

a Still after food.] So Frezzi : 

La voglia sempre ha fame, e mai non s'empie. 
Ed al piu pasto piii riman digiuna. 

11 Quadriregio, lib. ii. cap. xi 

Venturi observes that the verse in the original is borrowed by 
Berni. 

* That greyhound.] This passage has been commonly un- 
derstood as a eulogium on the liberal spirit of his Veronese 
patron, Can Grande delia Scala. 

4 ''Twixt cither Feltro.] Verona, the country of Can della 
Scala, is situated between Feltro, a city in the Marca Trivi- 
giana, and Monte Feltro, a city in the territory of Urbino. 

But Dante perhaps does not merely point out the place of 
Can Grande's nativity, for he may allude further to a pro- 
phecy, ascribed to Michael Scot, which imported that the 
'•Dog of Verona would be lord of Padua and of all the Marca 
Trivigiana." It was fulfilled in the year 1329, a little before 
Can Grande's death. See G. Villani Hist. 1. x. cap. cv. and 
cxli. and some lively criticism by Gasparo Gozzi, entitled Giu- 
dizio degli Antichi Poefi, &c, printed at the end of the Zatta 
edition of Dante, t. iv. part ii. p. 15. The prophecy, it is 
ilkely, was a forgery ; for Michael died before 1300,' when 



56 THE VISION. 103-12T 

Shall safety to Italia's plains 1 arise, 
For whose fair realm, Camilla, virgin pure, 
Nisus, Euryalus, and Turnus fell. 
He, with incessant chase, through every town 
Shall worry, until he to hell at length 
Restore her, thence by envy first let loose 
I, for thy profit pondering, now devise 
That thou mayst follow me ; and I, thy guide, 
Will lead thee hence through an eternal space, 
, Where thou shalt hear despairing shrieks, and see 
Spirits of old tormented, who invoke 
A second death f and those next view, who dwell 
Content in fire, 3 for that they hope to come, 
Whene'er the time may be, among the blest, 
Into whose regions if thou then desire 
To ascend, a spirit worthier 4 than I 
Must lead thee, in whose charge, when I depart 
Thou shalt be left : for that Almighty King, 
Who reigns above, a rebel to his law 
Adjudges me ; and therefore hath decreed 
That, to his city, none through me should come. 
He in all parts hath sw T ay ; there rules, there holds 
His citadel and throne. O happy those, 
Whom there he chooses !" I to him in few : 
" Bard ! by that God, whom thou didst not adore, 



Can Grande was only nine years old. See Hell, xx. 115, and 
Par. xvii. 75. Troya has given anew interpretation to Dante's 
prediction, which he applies to Uguccione della Faggiola, 
whose country also was situated between two Feltros. See 
the Veltro Allegorico di Dante, p. 110. But after all the pains 
he has taken, this very able writer fails to make it clear that 
Uguccione, though he acted a prominent part as a Ghibeline 
leader, is intended here or in Purgatory, c. xxxiii. 38. The main 
proofs rest on an ambiguous report mentioned by Boccaccio of 
the Inferno being dedicated to him, and on a suspicious letter 
attributed to a certain friar Ilario, in which the friar describes 
Dante addressing him as a stranger, and desiring him to con- 
vey that portion of the poem to Uguccione. There is no di- 
rect allusion to him throughout the Divina Commedia, as 
there is to the other chief public protectors of our poet (luring 
his exile. 

1 Italia's plains.] " Umile Italia," from Virgil, Mn., lib 
iii. 522. 

Humilemque videmus 
Italiam. 

2 A second death.] " And in these days men shall seek 
death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death 
shall flee from them." Rev. ix. 6. 

3 Content in fire.] The spirits in Purgatory. 

4 .3. spirit worthier.] Beatrice, who conducts the Jt)el 
through Paradise 



138-132. HELL, Canto II 57 

I do beseech thee (that this ill and worse 
I may escape) to lead me where thou saidst, 
That I Saint Peter's gate 1 may view, and those 
Win, as thou tell'st, are in such dismal plight." 
Onward he moved, I close his steps pursued. 



CANTO II. 



ARGUMENT 

After the invocation, which poets are used to prefix to then 
works, he shows, that, on a consideration of his own 
strength, he doubted whether it sufficed for the journey 
proposed to him, but that, being comforted by Virgil, he 
at last took courage, and followed him as his guide and 
master. 

Xow was the day departing, 2 and the air, 
[mbrown'd with shadows, from their toils released 
All animals on earth ; and I alone 
Prepared myself the conflict to sustain, 
Both of sad pity, and that perilous road, 
Which my unerring memory shall retrace 

Muses ! O high genius ! now vouchsafe 
Your aid. O mind ! 3 that all I saw hast kept 
Safe in a written record, here thy worth 
And eminent endowments come to proof. 

1 thus began : " Bard ! thou who art my guide 
Consider well, if virtue be in me 

Sufficient, ere to this high enterprise 

Thou trust me. Thou hast told that Silvias' sire, 4 

Vet clothed in corruptible flesh, among 

The immortal tribes had entrance, and was there 

Sensibly present. Yet if heaven's great Lord, 

1 Saint Peter's gate.] The gate of Purgatory, which the 
poet feigns to be guarded by an amrel placed on that station 
by St. Peter. 

9 N)w teas the day.] A compendium of Virgil's descrip- 
tion. iEn.. lib. Lv. n->2. Compare Apollonius Rhodius, lib. iii 
.44, and lib. iv. 1058. 

The day gan failin ; and the darke night, 
That revith bestis from their businesse, 
Berafte me my booke, &c. 

Chaucer. The Assemble of Fouler. 
O mind.] 

O thought ! that write all that I met 
And in the tresorie it set 
Of my braine. now shall men see 
If any virtue in thee be. 

Chaucer Temple of Fame b. ii. V. 13L 
4 Si?vius' sire ' /Eneas 



5S THE VISION. 1&-54 

Almighty ti>& to ill, such favor show'd 
In contemplation of the high efiect , 

Bohr vaha: one who mat i_.ni shottia :ssa: dorih, 

It seena.- in reastii's : v.::r:.^: weh i 

Si:/. he o: Roate a:;:; c: Rome's empire v.ade. 

In heaven's empyreal height was chosen sire : 

Both which, if truth be spoken, were ordain'd 

Aaad stabhsn'd tor the iiciy piace. where sits 

Who :: pea: Peter's sacred chair succeeds, 

He from this journey, in thy song renown'd, 

Learn'd things, that to ais victory anve ris^ 

And to the papal robe. In after-times 

Tire chosen vessel 1 aiso trrveh'd there.* 2 

To eriar its back assurance in that taitii 

Which s the entrance to salvation's way 

But I, why should I there presume 1 or who 

Permits it? not JEneas I, nor Paul. 

Myself I deem not worthy, and none else 

Will deem me. I, if on this voyage then 

I venture, fear it will in folly end. 

Thou, who art wise, better my meaning knowV 

Than I can speak." As one, who unresolves 

What he hath late resolved, and with new thoughts 

Clianaes ins purpose, ironr ins hrst intent 

Removed : ehn sn:h vvrs I or. that can coast. 

Wasting in thought my enterprise, at first 

So eagerly embraced. K If right thy words 

I scan," replied that shade magnanimous, 

" Thy soul is by vile fear assaiTd, 3 which oft 

So overcasts a man, that he recoils 

From noblest resolution, like a beast 

At some false semblance in the twilight gloom 

That from this terror thou mayst free thyself, 

I will instruct thee why I came, and what 

I heard in that same instant, when for tit 

Grief touch'd me first I was among the tribe, 

Who rest sasptnaaeaa when a dante. so bies: 



1 The chosen, vessel.] St. Paul. Acts ix. 15. •* But the Lord 
said unto him. Go thy way ; for he is a chosen vessel unto me." 

' There.] This refers to ** the immortal tribes," v. 15. St 
Paul having been caught up to heaven. 2 Cor. xii- 2. 

z Thy soul is by vile fear assaiTd.] 

L'anima tua e da viltate offesa 
Bo .a Berni, OrL Inn. lib. iii. c. i. st 53. 

Sfi ifiesa da viltate. 

■ Who rest suspended.] The spirits in Limbo, neither atf 
Bitted tc a state of gl rry no* doomed to ~?unishment. 



55-84. HELL, Canto II. 59 

And lovely I besought her to command, 

CalFd me ; her eyes were brighter than the star 

Of day ; and she, with gentle voice and soft, 

Angelically tuned, her speech address'd : 

4 O courteous shade of Mantua ! thou whose faoe 

1 Yet lives, and shall live long as nature lasts I 1 

1 A friend, not of my fortune but myself, 2 

1 On the wide desert in his road has met 

1 Hind'rance so great, that he through fear has turn'd 

1 Now much I dread lest he past help have stray'd. 

1 And I be risen too late for his relief, 

( From what in heaven of him I heard. Speed now. 

4 And by thy eloquent persuasive tongue, 

1 And by all means for his deliverance meet, 

1 Assist liim. So to me will comfort spring. 

' I, who now bid thee on this errand forth, 

' Am Beatrice ; 3 from a place I come 

1 Revisited with joy. Love brought me thence, 

' Who prompts my speech. When in my Master's 

{ I stand, thy praise to him I oft will tell.' [sight 

" She then was silent, and I thus began : 
1 O Lady ! by whose influence alone 
f Mankind excels whatever is contain' d 4 
i Within that heaven which hath the smallest orb, 
1 So thy command delights me, that to obey, 
* If it were done already, would seem late. 
1 Xo need hast thou farther to speak thy will: 
' Yet tell the reason, why thou art not loth 
1 To leave that ample space, where to return 
1 Thou burnest, for this centre here beneath.' 



1 As nature lasts.] Quanto '1 moto lontana. " Monfio," 
instead of " moto," which Lombardi claims as a reading pe- 
culiar to the Nidobeatina edition and some MSS., is also in 
Landino's edition of 1484. Of this Monti was not aware. 
Bee his Proposta, under the word " Lontanare." 

2 A friend, not of my fortune but myself.] Se non fortunn 
sed hominibus solere esse amicum. 

Cornelii JVepotis Attici Vita, 1. ix. 
Catera fortunae, non mea turba, fuit. 

Ovid. Trist. lib. i. el. v. 34. 
My fortune and my seeming destiny 
He made the bond", and broke it not with me. 

Coleridge's Death of Wallenstcin, act i &c. 7 

3 Beatrice.] The daughter of Folco Portinari, who is here 
Invested with the character of celestial wisdom or theology. 
See the Life of Dante prefixed. 

4 Whatever is co:itain'd.] Every other thing comprised 
within the lunar heaven, which, being the lowest of all, has 
the smallest circle. 



60 THEM-; BS-» 

" She tlien : * Since thou so dr :uire 

I will instruct thee briefly why no* dread 
1 Hinders my entrance here. Those things alont 
; Are :■; be fear'd whence evil may proee 
1 None else, for none are terrible 
1 I am so framed by God, thanks to his gra 
4 That any sufferance of your misery 

• Touches me not. nor flame of that fierce fire 

• Assails nie. In high heaven a blessed dame 1 

• Resides, who mourns with such effectual grief 

' Fhat hind'rance, which I send thee to remove. 

• That God's stern judgment to her will inclines. 

• i : Lucia 2 calling, her she thus bespake : 

K Now doth thy faithful servant need thy aid, 
u And I commend him to thee. 93 At hei word 
4 Sped Lucia, of all cruelty- the foe. 
•' And coming to the place, where I al 

■ S - ated with Rachel, her of an: i 

4 She thus address'd me : 44 Thou true praise :: God 

•' Beatrice ! why is not thy succor lent 

" To him, who so much loved thee, as to leave 

44 For thy sake all the multitude admi 

•■ Dost thou not hear how pitiful his w 

■ ■ ft or mark the death, which in the torrent flood, 

" Swoln mightier thai; a sea, him struggling holds P 1 

• Ne'er among men did any with such sj e : & 
- Haste to their profit, flee from their annoy, 

• As when these words were spoken, I ; ime her^, 
' Down from my blessed seat, trusting the force 

( Of thy pure eloquence, which thee, and all 
4 Who well have mark'd it, into honor brings. 9 

•• When she had ended, her bright beaming eyes 
Tearful she turn'd aside : whereat I felt 
Redoubled zeal to serve thee. As she will'd, 
Thus am I come : I saved thee from the beast. 
Who thy near way across the goodly mount 
Prevented. What is this comes o'er thee then ? 
Why, why dost thou hang back ? why in thy breast 
Harbor vile fear ! ~ 'hy h : e d : : c o a i : ge 



- A Kessed dame.] The Divine Mercy. 

2 Lucia.] The enlightening Grace of HeaTen; as :; is 

commonly explained. But Lombardi has well observed, that 
as o^f poei places her in the Paradise :. exxeL, among the 
souls of the blessed, so it is probable that she, like Beatrice, 
had a real existence; and he ace: 
have been Saint Lucia the martyr, ahhough she is 
representative of an abstract ide . 



12-1-141. HELL, Canto 111. 61 

And noble daring ; since three maids/ so blest, 
Thy safety plan, e'en in the court of heaven ; 
And so much certain good my words forebode V 

As florets, 2 by the frosty air of night [leaves, 

Bent down and closed, when day has blanclrd their 
Rise all unfolded on their spiry stems ; 
So was my fainting vigor new restored, 
And to my heart such kindly courage ran. 
That I as one undaunted soon replied : 
" O full of pity she, who undertook 
My succor ! and thou kind, who didst perform 
So soon her true behest ! With such desire 
Thou hast disposed me to renew my voyage. 
That my first purpose fully is resumed. 
Lead on : one only will is in us both. 
Thou art my guide, my master thou, and lord/' 

So spake I ; and when he had onward moved, 
1 enter'd on the deep and woody way. 

CAXTO III. 

ARGUMENT. 

Dante, following Virgil, comes to the gate of Hell ; where, 
after having read the dreadful words that are written 
thereon, they both enter. Here, as he understands from 
Virgil, those were punished who had passed their time 
(for living it could not be called) in a state of apathy and 
indifference both to good and evil. Then pursuing their 



1 Three maids.] The Divine Mercy, Lucia, and Beatrio 

2 As florets.] 

Come fioretto dal notturno gelo 

Chinato e chiuso, poi che il sol l'imbianca, 

S'apre e si leva dritto sopra il stelo. 

Boccaccio. II Filostrato, p. iii. st. xiii 
But right as floures through the cold of night 
Iclosed, stoupen in her stalkes lowe, 
Redressen hem agen the sunne bright, 
And spreden in her kinde course by rowe, &c. 

Chaucer. Troilus and Creseide, b. ii. 
It is from Boccaccio rather than Dante that Chaucer has 
taken this simile, which he applies to Troilus on the same 
occasion as Boccaccio has done. He appears indeed to have 
imitated or rather paraphrased the Filostrato in his Troilus 
and Creseide ; for it is not yet known who that Lollius is, 
from whom he professes to take the poem, and who is agaiD 
mentioned in the House of Fame, b. iii. 

The simile in the text has been imitated by many others ; 
among whom see Berni, Orl. Inn., lib. 1, c. xii st. 86. Marino, 
Adone, c. xvii. st. 63, and Son. 4i Donna vestita di nero," and 
Spenser's Faery Queen, b. iv. c. xii. st. 34. and b. vi. c. u. st 
Vi, and Boccaccio again in the Teseide, lib. 9, st 28. 
6 



52 THE TISION. 1-2& 

way, they arrive at the river Acheron ; and there find tha 
old ferryman Charon, who takes the spirits over to the 
opposite shore ; which as soon as Dante reaches, he if 
seized with terror, and falls into a trance. 

" Through me you pass into the city of wo : 
Through me you pass into eternal pain : 
Through me among the people lost for ay e. 
Justice the founder of my fabric moved : 
To rear me was the task of power divine, 
Supremest wisdom, and primeval love. : 
Before me things create were none, save things 
Eternal, and eternal I endure. 
All hope abandon, 2 ye who enter here." 

Such characters, in color dim, I mark'd 
Over a portal's lofty arch inscribed. 
Whereat I thus : " Master, these words import 
Hard meaning." He as one prepared replied : 
" Here thou must all distrust behind thee leave ; 
Here be vile fear extinguish'd. We are come 
Where I have told thee we shall see the souls 
To misery doom'd, who intellectual good [forth 

Have lost." And when his hand 3 he had stretch'd 
To mine, with pleasant looks, whence I was cheer'd, 
Into that secret place he led me on. 

Here sighs, 4 with lamentations and loud moans, 
Resounded through the air pierced by no star, 
That e'en I wept at entering. Various tongues, 
Horrible languages, outcries of wo, 
Accents of anger, voices deep and hoarse, 
With hands together smote that swell'd the sounds, 
Made up a tumult, that for ever whirls 
Round through that air with solid darkness stain'd. 



Power divine, 



Supremest wisdom, and primeval love.] 
The three Persons of the Blessed Trinity. 

2 Jill hope abandon.] 

Lasciate ogni speranza voi ch' entrate 

So Berni, Orl. Inn., lib. 1, c. 8, st. 53. 
Lascia pur della vita ogni speranza. 

3 And when his hand.] 

With that my hand in his he caught anone ; 
On which I comfort caught, and went in fast. 

Chaucer. The Assemble of Foules. 

4 Here sighs.] " Post haec omnia ad loca tartarea, et ad os 
infernalis baratri deductus sum, qui simile videbatur puteo, 
loca vero eadem horridis tenebris, fcetoribus exhalantibus, 
stridoribus quoqie et nimiis plena erant ejulatibus, juxta 
quein infernum vermis erat inflnitae magnitudinis, \igatus 
maxima catena.' Alberici Virio, § 9. 



29-53. HELL, Canto III. 63 

Like to the sand 1 that in the whirlwind flies. 

I then, with error yet encompassed, cried : 
11 O master ! what is this I hear ? what race 
Are these, who seem so overcome with wo?" 

He thus to me : " This miserable fate 
Suffer the wretched souls of those, who lived 
Without or praise or blame, with that ill band 
Of angels mix'd, who nor rebellious proved, 
Not yet were true to God, but for themselves 
Were only. From his bounds Heaven Grove them 
Not to impair his lustre ; nor the depth [forth, 

Of Hell receives them, lest the accursed tribe 3 
Should glory thence with exultation vain." 

I then : M Master ! what doth aggrieve them thus, 
That thev lament so loud •" He straight replied : 
" That will I tell thee briefly. Thesa of death 
No hope may entertain : and their blind life 
So meanly passes, that all other lots 
They envy. Fame 4 of them the world hath none, 
Nor suffers ; mercy and justice scorn them both. 
Speak not of them, but look, and pass them by." 

And I, who straightway look'd, beheld a flag, 5 
Which whirling ran around so rapidly, 
That it no pause obtain'd : and following came 
Such a long train of spirits, I should ne'er 



1 Like to the sand.'] Unnumber'd as the sands 

Of Barca or Cyrene's torrid soil, 

Levied to side with warring winds, and poise 

Their lighter wings. Milton. P. L., b. ii. 903 

With error.] Instead of " error," Vellutello's edition of 
1544 has '* orror," a reading remarked also by Landino. in his 
notes. So much mistaken is the collater of the Monte Cassino 
MS. in calling it "lezione da niuno notata ," "a reading 
which no one has observed." 

s Lest the accursed tribe.] Lest the rebellious angels should 
exult at seeing those wrio were neutral, and therefore less 
guilty, condemned to the same punishment with themselves. 
Rossetti, in a long note on this passage, has ably exposed 
the plausible interpretation of Monti, who would have "alcu- 
na gloria" mean " no glory," and thus make Virgil say " that 
the evil ones would derive no honor from the society of the 
neutral." A similar mistake in the same word is made else- 
where by Lombardi. See my note on c. xii. v. 9. 
4 Fame ] Cancell'd from heaven and sacred memory, 
Nameless in dark oblivion let them dwell. 

Milton. P. L., b. vi, 380. 
Therefore eternal silence be their doom. 
Ibid. 385. 

* *? %ag.] All the grisly legions that troop 

Under the sooty flag of Acheron. 

Milton. Comus 



61 i he vi-:::; 54-r> 

H:.t t though! that death so many had despoii'd. 

I :-: : 3gnised, I saw 
And knew the shade of him, who to base fear* 
Yielding, abjured his high estate. Forthwith 
I understood, : this the t:\ 

Of those ill spirits both to God displeasing 
And to his foes. These wi e - no ne'er . 
Went on in nakedness, and sorely stung 
By ~asps and hornets, which bedew d their cheeks 
With blood, that, mix d with tears, dropp'd to theii 
And by disgustful worms was gather d there, [feet, 

Then looking farther onwards, I brheld 
A throng upon the shore of a great stream : 
Whereat I thus : "Sir! grant me now to know 
Whom here we view, and whence impelTd they ; 7 m 
So eager to pass ;. as I discern 
Through the blear light : He thns to me in few: 
" This shalt thou know, soon as oiu si 
Beside the woful tide of Acher-::: 

Then with eyes downwardcast, and flU'd with sh^me, 
F: -ring my words offensive to his eai . 
Till we had reaeh'd the river, I from speech 
Abstained. And lo ! toward us in a bark 

_ smes on an old man, 3 hoary white with eld, 



Who to bast ft tr 



Yielding, abjured his high estate. J 

This is commonly understood of Celestine the Fifth, who ab- 
dicated the papal power 1294. Veatnti mentions a work 
written by Innocenzio Barcellini, of the Celestine orde 
printed at Milan in 1701, in which an attempt is made 
a different interpretation on this passage. 

Lombard! wonld apply it to some one of Dante's fellow 
citizens, who, refusing, through avarice or want of spirit, t* 
support the party of the Bianehi at Florence, had been the 
main occasion of the miseries that befell them. But the tes- 
timony of Fazio degli TJbeni, who lived so near the time of 
our author, seems almost decisive on this point. He expressly 
speaks of the Pope Celestine as being in hell. See the I 
mondo, L. iv. cap. xxL The usual interpretation is further 
confirmed in a passage in Canto xxvii. v. 101. 

Petrarch, while he passes a high encomium on Celestine 
for his abdication of the papal power, gives ns to undei 
that there were others who thought it a disgracefal act 
the De Vita SoliL, b. iL sect ill. 

■ Through the blear light.] Lo fioco lume. 
BoFilicaja, canz. vi. st. 1*2: Qnal fioco Inme. 

* An old man.} 

Portitor has horrendus aquas et flumina servat 
Tenibili squalore Charon, cni pinrima mento 
Canities inculta jacet ; slant lumina flamma 

r.v •* '••• lifa^ vi. 396 



78-103. HELL, Canto III. 65 

Crying, " Wo to you. wicked spirits ! hope not 
Ever to see the sky again. I come 
To take you to the other shore across, 
Into eternal darkness, there to dwell 
In fierce heat and in ice. 1 And thou, who there 
Standest, live spirit ! get thee hence, and leave 
These who are dead.' 3 But soon as he beheld 
I left them not, ;i By other way,' 3 said he, 
'• By other haven shalt thou come to shore, 
Not by this passage : thee a nimbler boat- 
Must carry." Then to him thus spake my guide : 
'• Charon ! thyself torment not : so 'tis will'd, 
Where will and power are one : ask thou no mote.*-' 

Straightway in silence fell the shaggy cheeks 
Of him, the boatman o'er the livid lake, 3 
Around whose eyes glared wheeling flames. Mean- 
while 
Those spirits, faint and naked, color changed, 
.^nd gnash'd their teeth, soon as the cruel words 
They heard. God and their parents they blasphemed; 
The human kind, the place, the time, and seed, 
That did engender them and give them birth. 

Then all together sorely wailing drew 
To the cursed strand, that every man must pass 
Who fears not God. Charon, demoniac form, 
With eyes of burning coal, 4 collects them all, 
Beckoning, and each, that lingers, with his oar 



1 In fierce heat and in ice.] 

The bitter change 

Of fierce extremes, extremes by cham:^ more fierce. 
From beds of raging tire to starve in ice 

Their soft etheteal warmth. 

Milton, P. L., b. ii. 601. 

The delighted spirit 

To bathe in fiery floods, or to reside 
In thrilling regions of thick-ribbed ice. 

Shaksp. Measure for Measure, a. iii. s. 1. 
See note to C xxxii. 23. 

2 A nimbler boat.} He perhaps alludes to the bark " swift 
and light/' in which the Angel conducts the spirits to Pur- 
gatory. See Purg., c. ii. 10. 

3 The livid lake.] Yada livida. Virg. JEn., lib. vi. 320 

Totius of lacus putidceque pafudis 

Lividissima, maximeque est profunda vorago. 

Catullus, xviii. 10- 
* With eyes of burning coal.] 
His looks were dreadful, and his fiery eyes. 
Like two great beacons, glared bright and wide. 

Spenser, F. Q., b vi. c. vii st. 42. 



tHJ THE VISION, 104-V26 

Striken As fall off the light autumnal leaves. 1 
One still another following, till the bough 
Strews all its honors on the earth beneath ; 
E'en in like manner Adam's evil brood 
Cast themselves, one by one, down from the shor* 
Each at a beck, as falcon at his cal>. 2 

Thus go they over through the umber d wave ; 
And ever they on the opposing bank 
Be landed, on this side another throng 
Still gathers. " Son,''" thus spake the courteous guida 
'• Those who die subject to the wrath of God 
All here together come from every clime, 
And to o'erpass the river are not loth : 
For so heaven's justice goads them on, that feai 
Is turn'd into desire. Hence ne'er hath pass'd 
Good spirit. If of thee Charon complain, 
Now mayst thou know the import of his words." 

This said, the gloomy region trembling shook 
So terribly, that yet with clammy dews 
Fear chills my brow. The sad earth gave a blast, 
That, lightening, shot forth a vermilion flame, 
Which all my senses conquer' d quite, and I 
Down dropp'd, as one with sudden slumber seized 



CANTO V. 



ARGUMENT. 

The poet, being roused by a clap of tnunder, and following 
his guide onwards, descends into Limbo, which is the first 
circle of Hell, where he finds the souls of those, who, al- 
though they have lived virtuously, and have not to suft'ei 
Sn- great sins, nevertheless, through lack of baptism, merit 
not the bliss of Paradise. Hence he is led on by Virgil to 
descend into the second circle. 

Broke the deep slumber in my brain a crash 
Of heavy thunder, that I shook myself, 
As one by main force roused. Risen upright, 

1 As fall off the light autumnal leaves.] 

Gtuam multa in silvis autumni frigore primo 

Labsa cadunt folia. Virg. J£n., lib. vi. 309 

Thick as autumnal leaves, that strew the brooks 
In Vallombrosa, where th' Etruria.i shades 
High over-arch'd imbower. Jlilton, P. L . b. i. 304, 

Compare Apoll. Rhod., lib. iv. p. 214. 

2 As falcon at his call.] This is Vellutello's explanation, 
end seems preferable to that commonly given: "as a bird 
1 vat is enticed to the cage by the call of another " 



4-3'J HELL, Canto IV. 67 

My rested eyes I moved around, and searcii/d, 

With fixed ken. to know what place it was 

Wherein I stood. For certain, on the brink 

I found me of the lamentable vale, 

The dre-ad abyss, that joins a thundrous sound 1 

Of plaints innumerable. Dark and deep, 

And thick with clouds overspread, mine eye in vain 

Explored its bottom, nor could aught discern. 

•• Xow let us to tlfe blind world there beneath 
Descei.d ;" the bard began, all pale of look ; 
" I go the first, and thou shalt follow next." 

Then I, his alter'd hue perceiving, thus : 
" How may I speed, if thou yieldest to dread, 
Who still art wont to comfort me in doubt I" 

He then : " The anguish of that race below 
With pity stains my cheek, which thou for.fear 
Mistakest. Let us on. Our length of way 
Urges to haste." Onward, this said, he moved 
And entering led me with him, on the bounds 
Of the first circle that surrounds the abyss. 

Here, as mine ear could note, no plaint was heard 
Except of sighs, that made the eternal air 
Tremble, not caused by tortures, but from grief 
Felt by those multitudes, many and vast, 
Of men, women, and infants. Then to me 
The gentle guide : " Inquirest thou not what spirits 
Are these which thou beholdest ? Ere thou pass 
Farther, I would thou know, that these of sin 
Were blameless ; and if aught they merited, 
It profits not, since baptism was not theirs, 
The portal 2 to thy faith. If they before 
The Gospel lived, they served not God aright ; 
And among such am I. For these defects, 
And for no other evil, we are lost ; 
Only so far afflicted, that we live 
Desiring without hope.'" 3 Sore grief assail'd 

1 A thundrous sound ] Imitated, as Mr. Thyer has re- 
marked, by Milton, P. L., b. viii. 242: 

But long, ere our approaching, heard 

Noise, other than the sound of dance or song, 
Torment, and loud lament, and furious rage7 

2 Portal.] "Porta della fede." This was an alteration 
made in the text by the Academicians della Crusca, on the 
authority, as it would appear, of only two MSS. The other 
reading is " parte della fede ;" " part of the faith." 

3 Desiring- without hope.] 

And with d ^ire to languish without hope. 

Milton, P. L., b. x 995 



68 THE VISION. 40-*a 

My heart at :>. ariu r this, for well I knew 
Suspended in that limbo many a soul 
Of mighty worth. tell : ue. are revered! 
Teh me, my mastex ;" I began, through wish 

Which vanquishes ah error; "say. ■ 

Aay, or through his own or other's merit, 

Come forth from men ce. whc afte Wdf 

Piercing the secret purport 1 of my speech, 
He answered: ■■ I was :i:~ to mat estate. 
When I beheli a puissant :ue- : 
Among us, with victorious trophy crown'd 
rh :;::h : the shaae :f : u 
Abe. his :iui:l, ana Xoah righteous man, 
Oz hlcses iawriver ::: '.:::':. : : :u : 
0: patriarch Abraham, and Davi 1 king. 
Israel with his sua ana with his son-. 
N :: without Rachel whom so hard he won, 
And others many more, whom he to hues 
Exafcjd. Before these, be thou assiu 
No spirit of human hind was ere: su 

We, while he spake, o ease a not onr onward road, 
Still p> assizer throurh the wood : for so I name 
Those spue:- thick beset. We were not far 
On tins side from the summit, when I he 
A name-, tieat o'er the darken here 

Prevailing same:!. Ye: we a little ; . 
Were distent, not so far but I in 

1 Secret purport.] Lombard! well observes, that Danta 
seems to have been restrained by awe and reverence 
uttering the name of Christ in e of tonne nl 

that for the same canse, probably, it does not occur once 
throughout the whole of this first part of the poem. 

8 He forth.] The author of the Quadriregio has inti educed 
a sublni. u -... imitation of this passase 



Ch::s 

Tne : 



Muc 



L.ii 




but him. 










oea poet 



G9-90. HELL, Canto IV. 09 

That place possess'd. " O thou, who every art 

And science vainest ! who are these, that boast 
Such honor, separate from all the rest ?" 

He answerd : " The renown of their great names. 
That echoes through your world above, acquires 
Favor in heaven, which holds them thus advanced." 
Meantime a voice I heard : " Honor the bard 
Sublime I 1 his shade returns, that left us late !" 
No sooner ceased the sound, than I beheld 
Four mighty spirits toward us bend their steps, 
Of semblance neither sorrowful nor glad. 2 

When thus my master kind began: " Mark him, 
Who in his right hand bears that falchion keen, 
The other three preceding, as their lord. 
This is that Homer, of all bards supreme : 
Flaccus the next, in satire's vein excelling; 
The third is Naso ; Luc an is the last. 
Because they all that appellation own, 
With which the voice singly accosted me, 
Honoring they greet me thus, and well they judge." 

So I beheld united the bright school 
Of him the monarch of sublimest song, 3 

1 Honor the bard 

Sublime.] 

Onorate 1' altissimo poeta. 
So Chiabrera, Canz. Erioche. 32. 

Onorando V altissimo poeta. 

* Of semblance neither sorrowful nor glad.] 

She nas to sober ne to glad. Chaucer s Dream. 

s The monarch of sublimest song-.] Homer. 

It appears from a passage in the Convito, that there was 
no Latin translation of Homer in Dante's time. " Sappia 
"y.ascuno, &c." p. 20. " Every one should know, that noth- 
ing, harmonized by musical enchainment, can be transmuted 
from one tongue into another without breaking all its sweet- 
ness and harmony. And this is the reason why Homer has 
never been turned from Greek into Latin, as the other wri- 
ters we have of theirs." This sentence, I fear, may well be 
regarded as conclusive against the present undertaking. Yet 
would I willingly bespeak for it at least so much indulgence 
as Politian claimed for himself, when in the Latin transla- 
tion, which he afterwards made of Homer, but which has 
since unfortunately perished, he ventured on certain liberties 
both of phraseology and metre, for which the nicer critics ot 
his time thought fit to call him to an account : " Ego vero 
tametsi rudis in primis non adeo tamen obtusi simi pectoris 
in versibus maxime faciundis, ut spatia ista morasque non 
sentiam. Vero cum mihi de Graco paene ad verbum forent 
antiquissima interpretanda carmina, fateor affectavi equidem 
at in verbis obsoletam vetustatem, sic in mensura. ipsst et 
numero gratam quandam ut speravi novitatem." Ep. lib. i 
Paptistae Guanno. 



?0 THE VISION. 91 in 

That o'er the others like an eagle soars. 

When they together short discourse had held, 
They turn'd to me. with salutation kind 
Beckoning me : at the which my master smiled : 
Xor was this all : but greater honor still 
They gave me. for they made me of their tribe ; 
And I was sixth amid so learn'd a band. 

Far as the luminous beacon on we pass'd. 
Speaking of matters, then befitting well 
To speak, now fitter left untold. 1 At foot 
Of a magnificent castle we arrived, 
Seven times with lofty walls begirt, and round 
Defended by a pleasant stream. O'er this 
As o'er dry land we pass'd. Next, through seven gateajg 
I with those sages enter'd. and we came 
Into a mead with lively verdure fresh. 

There dwelt a race, who slow their eyes around 
Majestically moved, and in their port 
Bore eminent authority : they spake 
Seldom, but all their words were tuneful sweet 

We to one side retired, into a place 
Open and bright and lofty, whence each one 
Stood manifest to wiew. Incontinent, 
There on the green enamel* of the plain 
Were shown me the great spirits, by whose sight 
I am exalted in my own esteem. 

Electra 3 there I saw accompanied 



1 Fitter left untold.] 

Che '1 tacere e bello, 
So out poet, in Canzone 14 : 

La vide in parte che '1 tacere e bello. 
Rucceliai. Le Api. 75' 1 : 

Ch' a dire e bn:::^ ed a tacerlo e betfu 
And Bembo : 

Vie piii bello e i\ :..-:erle, che il favellame. 

G'i .isol., lib. I. 

2 Green enamo' ] '"Verde smalto." Dante here uses a 
metaphor that has since become very common in poetry. 

O'er the smooth enamell'd green. .Miiton. Arcades. 
" Enamelling, and perhaps pictures in enamel, were com- 
mon in the middle ages. <kc." Jf'arton. Hist, of Eng. Poetry^ 
v. i. c. nil p. 37>3. M This art flourished most at Limoges, in 
France. So early as the year 1197. we have dnas tabulaa 
teneas superanratas de labore Limogise. Chart, ann 1197 
apud Ughelin. torn. vii. Ital. Sacr. p. 1-274."' Warion. Ibid. 
Additions to v. i. printed in vol. ii. Compare Walpole'a 
Anecdotes of Painting in England, vol. i. c. ii. 

3 Electra.] The daughter of Atlas, and mother of Darda- 
nns the founder of Troy. See Virg. JEn., 1. viii. 134. as re- 
ferred to by Dante in the treatise M De Monarchist," lib. ii. 



,18-129 HELL. Cantc IV. 71 

By many, among whom Hector I knew, 
Anchises' pious son, and with hawk's eye 
Caesar all arnrd, and by Camilla there 
Penthesilea. On the other side, 
Old king Latinus seated by his child 
Lavinia, and that Brutus I beheld 
Who Tarquin chased, Lucretia, Cato ? s wile 
Marcia, with Julia 1 and Cornelia there ; 
And sole apart retired, the Soldan fierce. 2 

Then when a little more I raised my brow, 
I spied the master of the sapient throng, 3 
Seated amid the philosophic train. 

" Electra, scilicet, nata magni nominis regis Atlantis, ut de 
ambobus testimonium redciit poeta r.oster in octavo, ubi 
^Eneas ad Evandrum sic ait, 

" Dardanus Iliacae," &c. 

1 Julia. J The daughter of Julius Caesar, and wife of Pompey. 

2 The Solda.71 fierce.] Saladin, or Salaheddin, the rival of 
Richard Coeur-de-Lion. See D'Herbelot, Bibl. Orient., the 
Life of Saladin, by Bohao'edin Ebn Shedad, published by 
Albert Schultens, with a Latin translation, and Knolles's 
Hist, of the Turks, p. 57 to 73. " About this time (1193) 
died the great Sultan Saladin, the greatest terror of the 
Christians, who, mindful of man's fragility and the vanity 
of worldly honors, commanded at the time of his death no 
solemnity to be used at his burial, but only his shirt, in man- 
ner of an ensign, made fast unto the point of a lance, to be 
carried before his dead body as an ensign, a plain priest going 
before, and crying aloud unto the people in this sort. ' 

din. Conqueror of the East, of all the greatness and riches 
he had in his life, carrieth not with him any thing more than 
his shirt.' A sight worthy so great a king, as wanted noth 
ing to his eternal commendation more than the true know- 
ledge of his salvation in Christ Jesns. He reigned about 
sixteen years with great honor." He is introduced by Pe 
trarch in the Triumph of Fame, c. ii. ; and by Boccaccio in 
the Decameron, G. x. X. 9. 

3 The master of the sapient throjig.] 

Maestro di color che sanno. 
\ristotle. — Petrarch assigns the first place to Plato. See 
Triumph of Fame, c. iii. 

Volsimi da man manca. e vidi Plato 

Che 'n quella schicra andb piu presso al segno 
A cpaal aggiunge, a chi dal cielo e dato 
Aristotile poi pien d' alto ingegno. 
Pulci, in his Morgante Maggiore, c. xviii., says. 
Tu se' il maestro di color che sanno. 
The reverence in which the Stagirite was held by our 
Author, cannot be better shown than by a passage in his 
Convito, p. 14-2 : % - Che Aristotile sia degnissimo, &c." " That 
Aristotle is most worthy of trust and obedience, may be thus 
proved. Among the workmen or artificers of different arts 
and operations, which are in order to some final art or opera- 
tion, he, who is the artist or operator in that, ought chiell* 



72 THE VISION. 1»-14J 

H7r. i».. i :.:.:...: : . .-,. ~iv ......:. :i"?::::r i_r 

T^t?t £:•:: :: I r.i: 

"S z i-iz-s-. :: .:..::: .... ::..z. Z .::.:;::;:_? 

V.7 : 5r:.s -7t — :: : ::.: .7. i:: : r . : I'.:'_tut5. 
"77. H:-n:'_: := :.:7 Eziz-rl: 7rs. 
Ani Az.: :::;.. ■ .:. '. 177 : = - _ . 



Ai: L_-.-.-5. J...:;- ini zl::7 -: 






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:."i. ■ " : .;■--: :: :.: :_5. 

aSua. hoe asfiiim inaiiflates o© r poet : 

It" : :. 7 "... : 



. ;: ... : ... : ..". : 7' •_- 77/- -'• -■-'•" 
-t :. : ". '.:. ■: C\.:;.::::r7^:5 ~ i -; r~5 
miliar with 
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5i : s T 1 : . ' -rz. 5 Sr : - - 
.:".:..: :■- 6>. .1.5 -~::.ii .1 



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A ".: •: : : z ~ : : 17"."- 7: s ; 1 .: 

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I4&-148. HELL, Canto V. ?3 

Of all to speak at full were vain attempt ; 
For my wide theme so urges, that oft-times 
My words fall short of what bechanced. In two 
The six associates part. Another way 
My sage guide leads me, from that air serene, 
Into a climate ever vex'd with storms : 
And to a part I come, where no light shines 



CAXTO V. 

AUGUMEXT. 

Coming into the second circle of Hell, Dante at the entrance 
beholds Minos the Infernal Judge, by whom he is admon- 
ished to beware how he enters those regions. Here he wit- 
nesses the punishment of carnal sinners, who are tossed 
about ceaselessly in the dark air by the most furious winds. 
Among these he" meets with Francesca of Rimini, through 
pity at whose sad tale he falls fainting to the ground. 

From the first circle 1 I descended thus 
Down to the second, which, a lesser space 



source of modern philosophical impiety The critic quotes 
some passages from Petrarch (Senil, 1. v. ep. iii. et Oper., v. ii. 
p. 1143) to show how strongly such sentiments prevailed in 
the time of that poet, by whom they were held in horror and 
detestation. He adds, that this fanatic admirer of Aristotle 
translated his writings with that felicity which might be ex- 
pected from one who did not know a syllable of Greek, and 
who was therefore compelled to avail himself of the unfaith- 
ful Arabic versions. D'Herbelot, on the other hand, informs 
us, that "Averroes was the first who translated Aristotle 
from Greek into Arabic, before the Jews had made their 
translation ; and that we had for a long time no other te>t 
of Aristotle, except that of the Latin translation, which was 
made from this Arabic version of this great philosopher, 
(Averroes,) who afterwards added to it a very ample com 
mentary, of which Thomas Aquinas, and the other scholastic 
writers, availed themselves, before the Greek originals of 
Aristotle and his commentators were known to us in Europe/ 
According to D'Herbelot, he died in 1193; but Tiraboschi 
places that event about 1206. 

k ' Averroes," says Warton, " as the Asiatic schools deeaye-j 
by k he indolence of the Caliphs, was one of those philosophers 
who adorned the Moorioh schools erected in Africa and Spain- 
He was a professor in the University of Morocco He wrote 
a commentary on all Aristotle's works. He was styled the 
most Peripatetic of all the Arabian writers. He was born at 
Cordova, of an ancient Arabic family." Hist. Eng. Poetry, 
vol. i. sect. xvii. p. 441. 

1 From the first circle.] Chiabrera's twenty-first sonnet ii 
on a painting, by Cesare Corte, from this Canto. Mr. Fuseli, 
a much greater name, has lately employed his wonder-work 
tng pencil on the same subject. 
1 



U THE VISION 3-44 

Embracing, so much more of grief contains, 

Provoking bitter moans. There Minos stands, 

Gnnning with ghastly feature i 1 he, of all 

Who enter, strict examining the crimes, 

Gives sentence, and dismisses them beneath, 

According as he foldeth him around : 

For when before him comes the ill-fated soul, 

It all confesses ; and that judge severe 

Of sins, considering what place in hell 

Suits the transgression, with his tail so oft 

Himself encircles, as degrees beneath 

He dooms it to descend. Before him stand 

Aiway a numerous throng ; and in his turn 

Each one to judgment passing, speaks, and hears. 

His fate, thence downward to his dwelling hurl'd. 

" O thou ! who to this residence of wo 
Approachest !" when he saw me coming, cried 
Minos, relinquishing his dread employ, 
" Look how thou enter here ; beware in whom 
Thou place thy trust ; let not the entrance broad 
Deceive thee to thy harm." To him my guide : 
" Wherefore exclaimest? Hinder not his way 
By destiny appointed ; so 'tis will'd, 
Where will and power are one. Ask thou no moro ' 

Now 'gin the rueful wailings to be heard. 
Now am I come where many a plaining voice 
Smites on mine ear. Into a place I came 
Where light was silent all. Bellowing* there groan 'd 
A noise, as of a sea in tempest torn 
By warring winds. The stormy blast of hell 
With restless fury drives the spirits on, 
Whirl' d round and dash'd amain with sore annoy. 
When they arrive before the ruinous sweep, 
There shrieks are heard, there lamentations, moan^ 
And blasphemies 'gainst the good Power in heaven. 

I understood, that to this torment sad 
The carnal sinners are condemn'd, in whom 
Reason by lust is sway'd. As in large troops 
And multitudinous, when winter reigns, 
The starlings on their wings are borne abroad : 
So bears the tyrannous gust those evil souls. 
On this side and on that, above, below, 

Grinning with ghastly feature.] Hence Milton : 

Death 

Grinn'd horrible a ghastly smile. 

P L., b. ii 845 



45-65. HELL, Canto V. 75 

It drives them : hope of rest to solace them 

Ts none, nor e'en of milder pang. As cranes, 1 

Chanting their dolorous notes, traverse the sky, 

Stretch'd out in long array ; so I beheld 

Spirits, who came loud wailing, hurried on 

By their dire doom. Then I : " Instructor ! who 

Are these, by the black air so scourged ?" — " The first 

'Mong those, of whom thou question'st," he replied, 

" O'er many tongues was empress. She in vice 

Of luxury was so shameiess, that she made 

Liking 2 be lawful by promulged decree, 

To clear the blame she had herself incurr'd 

This is Semiramis, of whom 'tis writ, 

That she succeeded Ninus her espoused ; 3 

And held the land, which now the Soldan rules. 

The next in amorous fury slew herself, 

And to Sichcus' ashes broke her faith : 

Then follows Cleopatra, lustful queen." 

There mark'd I Helen, for whose sake so long 
The time was fraught with evil ; there the great 
Achilles, who with love fought to the end. 

1 jis cranes.] This simile is imitated by Lorenzo de Me 
dici, in his Am bra, a poem, first published by Mr. Roscoe, in 
the Appendix to his Life of Lorenzo : 

Marking the tracts of air, the clamorous cranes 
Wheel their due flight in varied ranks descried ; 
And each with outstretch'd neck his rank maintains, 
In marshall'd order through th' ethereal void. 

Roscoe, v. i. c. v. p. 2.37, 4to. edit. 
Compare Homer, II., iii. 3. Virgil, iEn., 1. x. 204. Oppian 
Halieut., lib. i. 020. Puiccellai, Le Api, 942, and Dante's Pur 
gatory, xxiv. 03. 

- Liking.] His lustes were as lav.' in his degree. 

Chaucer, JMonke's Tale. Nero. 
8 That she succeeded Ninus her espoused.] 

Che succedette a Nino e fu sua sposa. 
M Artaud, in his Histoire de Dante, p. 589, mentions a 
manuscript work called Attacanti's Quadragesimale de reditu 
peccatoris ad Deum, in which the line is thus cited : 
Che sugger dette a Nino e fu sua sposa. 
" Who suckled Ninus, and was his wife." 
This remarkable reading had been before noticed by Federici 
Intorno ad alcune varianti nel testo della Divina Commedia 
Ed. Milan. 1830. See the Biblioteca Italiana, torn. 82, p. 282- 
It appears from the treatise De Monarchia, (1. ii.) that Dante 
derived his knowledge of Assyrian history from his favorite 
author Orosius, (1. i. c. iv.) who relates that Semiramis both 
succeeded Ninus through the artifice of personating her son, 
? nd that she committed incest with her son ; but as the name 
of her husband Ninus only is there recorded, and as other his- 
torians call the son Ninias it is probable that the common 
reading is right. 



76 THE VISION 66-90. 

Paris I saw, and Tristan ; and beside, 

A thousand more he show'd me, and by name 

Pointed them out, whom love bereaved of life. 

When I had heard my sage instructor name 
Those dames and knights of antique days, o'erpower'd 
By pity, well-nigh in amaze my mind 
Was lost ; and I began : " Bard ! willingly 
I would address those two together coming, 
Which seem so light before the wind." He thus : 
" Note thou, when nearer they to us approach. 
Then by that love which carries them along, 
Entreat ; and they will come." Soon as the wind 
Sway'd them towards us, I thus framed my speech 
" O wearied spirits ! come, and hold discourse 
With us, if by none else restrain'd." As doves 
By fond desire invited, on wide wings 
And firm, to their sweet nest returning »home, 
Cleave the air, Wafted by their will along ; 
Thus issued, from that troop where Dido ranks, 
They, through the ill air speeding : with such force 
My cry prevail'd, by strong affection urged. 

" O gracious creature and benign ! who go'st 
Visiting, through this element obscure, 1 
Us, who the world with bloody stain imbrued ; 
If, for a friend, the King of all we own'd, 
Our prayer to him should for thy peace arise, 
Since thou hast pity on our evil plight. 
Of whatsoe'er to hear or to discourse 
It pleases thee, that will we hear, of that 
Freely with thee discourse, while e'er the wind. 
As now, is mute. The land, 2 that gave me birth, 
Is situate on the coast, where Po descends 
To rest in ocean with his sequent streams. 

" Love, that in gentle heart is quickly learn'd, 3 

1 Element obscure ] " L'aer perso." Much is said by the 
commentators concerning the exact sense of the word " perso."' 
It cannot be explained in clearer terms than those used by 
Dante himself in his Convito : " II perso e un colore rnisto di 
purpureo e nero, ma vince il nero." p. 185. " It is a coloi 
mixed of purple and black, but the black prevails." The 
word recurs several times in this poem. Chaucer also useg 
it in the Prologue to the Canterbury Tales, Doctour of Phis- 
Ike : 

In sanguin and in perse he clad was rille. 

8 The land.\ Ravenna. 

s Love, thai in gentle heart is quickly learn'd.} 

Amor, ch' al cor gentil ratto s'apprende. 
A. line taken by Marmo, Adone, c. cxli. st. 251. 



100-114. HELL. Canto V. '77 

Entangled him by that fair form, from me 
Ta'en in such cruel sort, as grieves me still : 
Love, that denial takes from none beloved, 1 
Caught me with pleasing him so passing well, 
That, as thou seest, he yet deserts me not. 
Love brought us to one death : Caina 2 waits 
The soul, who spilt our life." Such were their words ; 
At hearing which, downward I bent my looks, 
And held them there so long, that the bard cried : 
" What art thou pondering?" I in answer thus 
" Alas ! by what sweet thoughts, what fond desire 
IVlust they at length to that ill pass have reach'd !" 

Then turning, I to them my speech address'd, 
And thus began : " Francesca ! 3 your sad fate 
Rven to tears my grief and pity moves. 



That the render of the original may not be misled as to the 
exact sense of the word " s'apprende," which I have rendered 
" is learn'd," it may be right to apprize him that it signifies " is 
caught," and that it is a metaphor from a thing taking fire. 
Thus it is used by Guido Guinicelli, whom indeed our poet 
seems here to have had in view : 

Fuoco d' Amore in gentil cor s'apprende, 
Come vertute in pietra preziosa. 

Sonctti, &-c, di diversi Antichi Toscani. Ediz. 
Giuati, 1527, 1. ix. p. 107 
The fire of love in gentle heart is caught, 
As virtue in the precious stone. 

1 Love, that denial takes from none beloved. \ 

Amor, ch' a null' amato amar perdona. 
So Boccaccio, in his Filocopo, 1. 1. 

Amore mai non perdonb l'amore a nullo amato 
And Pulci, in the Morgante Maggiore. c. iv. 

E perche amor mai volontier perdona, 

Che non sia al fin sempre amato chi araa, 
Indeed, 11 .any of the Italian poets have repeated this verse. 

2 Caina.] The place to which murderers are doomed. 

3 Francesca.] Francesca, daughter of Guido da Polenta 
lord of Ravenna, was given by her father in marriage to 
Lanciotto, son of Malatesta, lord of Rimini, a man of extra- 
ordinary courage, but deformed in his person. His brother 
Paolo, who unhappily possessed those graces which the 
husband of Francesca wanted, engaged her affections ; and 
being taken in adultery, they were both put to death by 
the enraged Lanciotto. See notes to Canto xxvii. v. 33 and 
43. Troya relates, that they were buried together ; and that 
three centuries after, thfe bodies were found at Rimini, 
v.'hither they had been removed from Pesaro, with the silken 
garments yet fresh. Veltro Allegorico di Dante. Ediz. 1826 
p. 33. 

The whola of this passage is alluded to by Petrarch, in his 
Triumph of Lovr, c iii. : 



78 THE VISION. 115-12* 

But tell me ; in the time of your sweet sighs, 
By what, and how Love granted, that ye knew 
Your yet uncertain wishes?" She replied: 
" No greater grief than to remember days 
Of joy, when misery is at hand. 1 That kens 
Thy learn'd instructor. Yet so eagerly 
If thou art bent to know the primal root, 
F^om whence our love gat being, I will do 
As one, who weeps and tells his tale. One day, 
For our delight we read of Lancelot, 2 
How him love thrall' d. Alone we were, and no 
Suspicion near us. Oft-times by that reading 
Our eyes were drawn together, and the hue 
Fled from our alter'd cheek. But at one point 3 
Alone we fell. When of that smile we read, 

Ecco quei clie le carte empion di sogni 
Lancilotto Tristano e gli a \ri erranti : 
Onde convien che '1 vulgo errante agogni ; 
Vedi Ginevra, Isotta e l'altre amanti ; 
E la coppia d'Arimino che' nsieme 
Vanno facendo dolorosi pianti. 
Mr. Leigh Hunt has expanded the present episode into a 
Beautiful poem, in his "Story of Kimini." 

1 No greater grief than to remember days 
Of joy, when misery is at hand.] 

Imitated by Chaucer : 

For of Fortunis sharp adversite 
The worste kind of infortune is this, 
A man to have been in prosperite, 
And it remembir when it passid is. 

Troilus and Crescide, b. iii 
By Marino : 

Che non ha doglia il misero maggiore, 
Che ricordar la gioia entro il dolore. 

Adone, c. xiv. st. 100 
And by Fortiguerra : 

Rimembrare il ben perduto 

Fa piu me schino lo presente stato. 

Ricciardelto, c. xi st. 83 
The original, perhaps, was in Boetius de Consol. Philosoph. 
u In omni adversitate fortune infelicissimum genus est infor- 
tunii fuisse felicem et non esse."' I. 2, pr. 4. 

Boetius, and Cicero de Amicitia, were the two first books 
that engaged the attention of Dante, as he himself tells us in 
the Convito, p. 68. 

2 Lancelot.] One of the Knights of the Round Table, and 
the lover of Ginevra, or Guinever, celebrated in romance. 
The incident alluded to seems to have made a strong impres- 
sion on the imagination of Dante, who introduces it again, in 
the Paradise, Canto xvi. 

3 At one point.] 

Questo quel punto fu, che sol mi vinse. 

Tasso, 11 Torrismondo a. i. s. 3. 






130-138. HELL, Canto VI. 79 

The wished smile, so rapturously kiss'd 
By one so deep in love, then he, who ne'er 
From me shall separate, at once my lips 
All trembling kiss'd. The book and writer buth 
Were love's purveyors. In its leaves that day 
We read no more." 1 While thus one spirit spake, 
The other wail'd so sorely, that heart-struck 
I, through compassion faulting, seem'd not far 
From death, and like a corse fell to the ground. 2 



CANTO VI. 



ARGUMENT. 

On his recovery, the Poet finds himself in the third circle- 
where the gluttonous are punished. Their torment is, tc 
lie in the mire, under a continual and heavy storm of hail, 
snow, and discolored water; Cerberus meanwhile barking 
over them with his threefold throat, and rending them 
piecemeal. One of these, who on eanh was named Ciacco, 
foretells the divisions with which Florence is about to be 
distracted. Dante proposes a question to his guide, who 
solves it ; and they proceed towards the fourth circle. 

My sense reviving, 3 that erewhile had droop'd 
With pity for the kindred shades, whence grief 
O'ercame me wholly, straight around I see 
New torments, new tormented souls, which way 
Soe'er I move, or turn, or bend my sight. 
In the third circle I arrive, of showers 
Ceaseless, accursed, heavy and cold, unchanged 
For ever, both in kind and in degree. 
Large hail, discolor'd water, sleety flaw 

1 In its leaves that day 

We read no more.} Nothing can exceed the delicacj with 
wbich Francesca in these words intimates her guilt. 

2 And like a corse fell to the ground.] 

E caddi, come corpo morto cade. 
Bo Pulci : 

E cadde come morto in terra cade. 

Jlorgante Maggiore, c. xxii. 
And Ariosto : 

E cada, come corpo morto cade. 

Orl. Far., c. ii. st. 55. 
" And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead/' Revo 
«ation, i. IT. 

3 My sense reviving.] 

Al tornar della mente, che si cniuse, 
Dinanzi alia pieta de' duo cognati. 
Eerni has maae a sportive application of these lines, in hi9 
Orl. Inr.., lib. hi. c. viii st, 1. 



SO TPIE VISION. 10-44 

Through the dun midnight air stream'd down amain 
Stank all the land whereon that tempest fell. 

Cerberus, cruel monster, fierce and strange, 
Through his wide threefold throat, barks as a dog 
Over the multitude immersed beneath. 
His eyes glare crimson, black his unctuous beard, 
Wis belly large, and claw'd the hands, with which 
He tears the spirits, flays them, and their limbs 
Piecemeal disparts. Howling there spread, as curr 
Under the rainy deluge, with one side 
The other screening, oft they roll them round, 
A. wretched, godless crew. When that great worn 
Descried us, savage Cerberus, he oped 
His jaws, and the fangs show'd us ; not a limb 
Of him but trembled. Then my guide, his palms 
Expanding on the ground, thence nll'd with earth 
Raised them, and cast it in his ravenous maw. 
E'en as a dog, that yelling bays for food 
His keeper, when the morsel comes, lets fall 
His fury, bent alone with eager haste 
To swallow it ; so dropp'd the loathsome cheeks 
Of demon Cerberus, who thundering stuns 
The spirits, that they for deafness wish in vain. 

We, o'er the shades thrown prostrate by the brui* 
Of the heavy tempest passing, set our feet 
Upon their emptiness, that substance seem'd. 

They all along the earth extended lay, 
Save one, that sudden raised himself to sit, 
Soon as that way he saw us pass. " O thou !" 
He cried, " who through the infernal shades art led 
Own, if again thou know'st me. Thou wast framed 
Or e'er my frame was broken." I replied : 
" The anguish thou endurest perchance so takes 
Thy form from my remembrance, that it seems 
As if I saw thee never But inform 



1 Thvt great worm.] Juxta — infernum vermis erat infinite 
niagnitudinis ligatus maxima catena. Alberici Visio, § 9. 

In Canto xxxiv., Lucifer is called 
The abhorred worm, that boreth through the world 

This is imitated by Ariosto, Orl. Fur., c. xlvi. st. 76. 

Shakspeare, Milton, and Cowper, who well understood that 
the most common words are often the most impressive, have 
used the synonymous term in our language with the best 
effect • as Pindar has done in Greek : 

'A7to Tavyerov jjlcv Aiicaivav 

lizl dfipel Kdva rpixsiv irvKivutrarov ipntrdv. 

Heyne's Pindar. Frapm Epinic. ii. % In Hieron 



15-73. HELL, Canto VI. 81 

Me who thou art, that in a place so sad 
Art set, and in such torment, that although 
Other be greater, none disgusteth more." 
He thus in answer to my words rejonrd : 
" Thy city, heap'd with envy to the brim, 
Ave, that the measure overflows its bounds, 
Held me in brighter days. Ye citizens 
Were wont to name me Ciacco. 1 For the sin 
Of gluttony, damned vice, beneath this rain, 
E'en as thou seest, I with fatigue am worn : 
Nor I sole spirit in this wo : all these 
Have by hke crime incurr'd like punishment." 

No more he said, and I my speech resumed ' 
" Ciacco ! thy dire affliction grieves me much, 
Even to tears. But tell me, if thou know'st. 
What shall at length befall the citizens 
Of the divided city ; 2 whether any 
Just one inhabit there : and tell the cause, 
Whence jarring Discord hath assail"d it thus." 

He then : " After long striving they will come 
To blood ; and the wild party from the woods 2 
Will chase the other 4 with much injury forth. 
Then it behooves that this must fall 5 within 
Three solar circles ; 6 and the other rise 
By borrow'd force of one, who under shore 
Now rests. 7 It shall a long space hold aloof 
Its forehead, keeping under heavy weight 
The other oppressed, indignant at the load, 
And grieving sore. The just are two in number, 8 



1 Ciacco.] So called from his inordinate appetite ; Ciacco, 
in Italian, signifying a pig. The real name of this glutton 
has not been transmitted to us. He is introduced in Boccac- 
cio's Decameron, Giorn. ix. Nov. 8. 

1 The divided city.] The city of Florence, divided in:o the 
Bianchi and Xeri factions. 

3 The icild party from the \coods.~) So called, because it was 
headed by Veri de' Cerchi, whose family had lately come 
into the city from Acone, and the woody country of the Va! 
di Nievole. 

4 The other.] The opposite party of the Neri, at the head 
of which was Corso Donati. 

° This must fall.] The Bianchi. 

6 Three solar circles.] Three years. 

7 Of one, who under shore 

Now rests.] 
Charles of Valois, by whose means the iYeri were replaced 

8 The just are two in number.] Who these two were, the 
rommentators are not agreed. Some understand them to be 
Dante himself and. his friend Guido Cavalcanti. But this 



82 THE VISION. 7H* 

But they neglected. Avarice, envy, pride. 1 

Three fatal sparks, have set the hearts of all 

On fire.*' Here ceased the lamentable sound ; 

And I continued thus : " Still would I learn 

More from thee, farther parley still entreat 

Of Farinata and Tegghiaio? say. 

They who so well deserved ; of Giacopo. 3 

Arrigo. Mosea* and the rest, who bent 

Their minds on working; good. Oh ! tell me where 

They bide, and to their knowledge let me come. 

For I am press'd with keen desire to hear 

If heaven's sweet cup. or poisonous drug of hell, 

Be to their lip assign'd." He answer' d straight : 

•'■' These are yet blacker spirits. Various crimes 

Have sunk them deeper in the dark abyss. 

If thou so far descendest. thou mayst see them. 

But to the pleasant world, when thou return's:. 

Of me make mention. I entreat thee, there. 

Xo more I tell thee, answer thee no more.'' 

This said, his fixed eyes he tum'd askance. 
A little eyed me. then bent down his head. 
And 'midst his blind companions with it fell. 

When thus my guide : •• Xo more his bed he leaves, 



would argue a presumption which our Poet himself else- 
where contradicts : for, in the Purgatory, he owns fans con- 
sciousness of not being exempted from one at least of "the 
ihree fatal sparks, which had set the hearts of all on fire." 
See Canto xhi. 126. Others refer the encomium to Barduccio 
and Giovanni Vespignano, adducing the following passage 
from Villain in support of their opinion : " In the year 1331 
died in Florence two just and good men. of holy life and con- 
versation, and bountiful in almsgiving, although laymen, 
The one was named Barduccio. and was buried in S. Spirito, 
in the place of the Fran Romitani: the other, named Gio- 
vanni da Vespignano. was buried in S. Pietro Maggiore. And 
by each. God snowed open miracles, in healing the sick and 
lunatic after diver? manners ; and for each there was or- 
dained a solemn funeral, and many images of wax set up ir, 
discharge of vows that had been made.'' G. Villain, lib. a 
cap. ]?9. 

i Avarice^ envy, pride.] 

Invidia. snperbia ed avariz;-* 
Vedea moitiplicar tra mici figliuoli. 

Fazio degli Ubcrti. Diitamondo. lib. i. cap. xxlx. 

- Of fhrinata end Tegghiaio.] See Canto x. and Xotes. and 
Canto xvi. and Notes. 

£ Giacopo. \ Giacopo Rusticucci. See Canto xvi. and Notes. 

4 Jlrrigv, Mosca.] Of Arrigo, who is said by the commenta- 
tors to have been of the noble family of the Fifanti. no men- 
tion afterwards occurs. Mosca degli Uberti, or de' Lamberti, 
js introduced in Canto xxviii. 



97-117. HELL, Caxto VII 83 

Ere the last angel-trumpet blow. The Power 
Adverse to these shall then in glory come, 
Each one forthwith to his sad tomb repair, 
Resume 1 his fleshly vesture and his form, 
And hear the eternal doom re-echoing rend 
The vault.'' So pass'd we through that mixture foul 
Of spirits and rain, with tardy steps ; meanwhile 
Touching, 2 though slightly, on the life to come. 
For thus I questioned : " Shall these tortures, sir i 
When the great sentence passes, be increased, 
Or mitigated, or as now severe ?" 

He then : " Consult thy knowledge ; 3 that decides, 
That, as each thing to more perfection grows, 
It feels more sensibly both good and pain. 
Though ne'er to true perfection may arrive 
This race accursed, yet nearer then, than now, 
They shall approach it." Compassing that path, 
Circuitous we journey'd ; and discourse, 
Much more than I relate, between us pass'd: 
Till at the point, whence the steps led below, 
Arrived, there Plutus, the great foe, we found 



CANTO VII. 



ARGUMENT. 

In the present Canto, Dante describes his descent into the 
fourth circle, at the beginning of which he sees Plutus sta- 
tioned. Here one like doom awaits the prodigal and the 
avaricious : which is, to meet in direful conflict, rolling 
great weights against each other with mutual npbraidings. 
From hence Virgil takes occasion to show how vain the 
goods that are committed into the charge of Fortune ; and 
this moves our author to inquire what being that Fortune 
is, of whom he speaks : which question being resolved, they 
go down into the fifth circte, where they find the wrathful 
and gloomy tormented in ;he Stygian lake. Having made 
a compass round great part of this lake, they come at last to 
the base of a lofty tower. 

1 Resume.] Imitated by Frezzi: 

Allor ripiglieran la carne e Fossa; 
Li rei oscuri, e i buon con splendori 
Per la virtu della divina possa. 

II Quadr., lib. iv. cap. xv. 

2 Touching.] Conversing, though in a slight and superficial 
manner, on the life to come. 

3 Consult thy knowledge.] We are referred to the following 
passage in St. Augustin : — " Cum fiet resurrectio carnis, et bo- 
norum gaudia et malorum tormenta majora erunt." — " At the 
resurrection of the flesh, both the happiness of the good and 
Ihe torments of the wicked will be increased." 



54 THE VISION. HC 

•• Ah me ! Satan ! Satan \" : loud exclaim'd 
Piutus. in accent hoarse of wild alarm: 
And the kind sage., whom no event surprised] 
To comfort me thus spake : •'•' Let not thy fear 
Harm thee, for power in him, be sure, is none 
To hinder down this rock thy safe descent.* 
Then to that sworn tip taming, " Peace :"" he <;: 
'• Curst wolf ! thy fury inward on thyself ": ; and 
Prey, and consume thee .' Through the dark pro- 
Not without cause, he passes. So 'tis will'd 
On high, there where the great Archangel pour'd 
Heaven's vengeance on the first adulterer proud ' "- 

As sails, foil spread and bellying with the wind, 
iddenly ::diapsed. if the mast split : 
So to the ground down dropp'd the cruel fiend. 

" " : ieseending to tne fourth steep k 
Grain'd >n the liana] shore, th: il wo 

Hems in of all the universe. 
Almighty Josl :; in what store thon hes 
New pains, new troubles, as I here beh^ 



: M me! Satan ! Satan !\ 

Pape Satan, aleppe. 

Pope is said by the commentators to be the same as the 
Latin word peps .' "strange!" Of aleppe they do not give a 
more satisfactory account. 

See the Life of Ben venuto Cellini, translated by Dr. Nugent, 
V. iLb, iii c :. 113. where he mentions " havin; 

the words P« awe, > tan! allez. pair! in the courts of jus- 
tice at Paris. I recollected what Dante said, when he 
his master Virgil entered the gates : hell: for Dante, and 
Giotto the painter, were together in J 

a ittentioB where the court of jus 
considered as hell. Hence ii if thai Dante who was like- 
wise perfect master of the Ftench ma 3xpres- 
sion ; and I ha v 3 i sn surprised thai 
mkI in that sense.* 1 

s Tie first adulterer proud.] Satan. The word "fornica- 
tion," or •■ adultery," •• strupo," is here used for a revolt of 
the affections from God. accord:: j :: the . debit is 

often applied in Scripture. But Monti, following G 
•• Essay on Synouymes." supposes " strupo" to mean M troop ;" 
the word "strap"' being still used in the Piemontese 
for. :. flock :: sheep. " and answering to '• troupe:" 
French. In that case. " superbo strnpc 
troop of rebel angels who sinned through pride." 

£ In what stare r 7 ::;: heop'st.] Some understand •* chi stipa'* 
to mean either u who can imo^ooo." :_ -who can describe 
the torments ," &c I have k Unwed 
Ihoogh very plain, seem to have been mistaken by Ixmihar- 

2hi stipa, chi accumula. ed ii 
lira, In giustizia aduni tanti supplicii." 



tl-M. HELL, Canto VII. 85 

Wherefore doth fault of ours bring us to this ? 

E'en as a billow, 1 on Charybdis rising. 
Against encounter d billow dashing breaks ; 
Sucli is the dance this wretched race must lead, 
Whom mere than elsewhere numerous here I found 
From one side and the other, with loud voice, 
Both roll'd on weights, by main force of their breasts. 
Then smote together, and each one forthwith 
Roll'd them back voluble, turning again ; 
Exclaiming these, " Why boldest thou so fast ?" 
Those answering, " And why castest thou away?" 
So, still repeating their despiteful song, 
They to the opposite point, on either hand, 
Traversed the horrid circle ; then arrived, 
Both turn'd them round, and through the middle spaoe 
Conflicting met again. At sight whereof 
I, stung with grief, thus spake : " O say, my guide .' 
What race is this. Were these, whose heads are shorn, 
On our left hand, all separate to the church?" 

He straight replied : "In their first life, these all 
In mind were so distorted, that they made, 
According to due measure, of their wealth 
No use. This clearly from their words collect, 
Which they howl forth, at each extremity 
Arriving of the circle, where their crime 
Contrary in kind disparts them. To the church 
Were separate those, that with no hairy cowls 
Are crown'd, both Popes and Cardinals, 2 o'er whom 
Avarice dominion absolute maintains." 

I then : '•' Olid such as these some needs must be, 
Whom I shall recognise, that with the blot 
Of there foul sins were stain'd." He answering thus : 
" Vain thought conceivest thou. That ignoble life, 
Which made them vile before, now makes them dark- 

1 E'en as a billow.] 

As when two billows in the Irish sowndes, 
Forcibly driven with contrarie tides, 
Do meet together, each aback rebounds 
With roaring rage, and dashing on all sides, 
That filleth all the sea with foam, divides 
The doubtful current into divers waves. 

Spenser, F. Q., b. iv. c. i. st. <&. 

2 Popes and Cardinals.] Ariosto having personified Ava 
net as a strange and hideous monster, says of her : 

Peggio facea nel.la Komana corte, 

Che v'avea uccisi Cardinali e Papi. 

Orl. Fur., c. xxvi. st. 352 
Worse did she in the Court of Rome, for there 
She had slain Popes and Cardinals. 



THE VISION. ;.-ii 



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89- J 17. HELL, Canto VIJ. S? 

Judges, and carries on her reign, as theirs 

The other powers divine. Her changes know 

None intermission :. by necessity 1 

She is made swift, so frequent come who claim 

Succession in her favors. This is she, 

So execrated e'en by those whose debt 

To her is rather praise : they wrongfully 

With blame requite her, and with evil word ; 

But she is blessed, and for that recks not : 

Amidst the other primal beings glad, 

Rolls on her sphere, and in her bliss exults. 

Now on our way pass we, to heavier wo 

Descending : for each star 2 is falling now, 

That mounted at our entrance, and forbids 

Too long our tarrying." We the circle cross' d 

To the next steep, arriving at a well, 

That boiling pours itself down to a foss 

Sluiced from its source. Far murkier was the wave 

Than sablest grain : and we in company 

Of the inky waters, journeying by their side, 

Enter'd, though by a different track, 3 beneath. 

Into a lake, the Stygian named, expands 

The dismal stream, when it hath reach'd the foot 

Of the gray wither'd cliffs. Intent I stood 

To gaze, and in the marish sunk descried 

A miry tribe, all naked, and with looks 

Betokening rage. They with their hands alone 

Struck not, but with the head, the breast, the feet, 

Cutting each other piecemeal with their fangs. 

1 By necessity.} This sentiment called forth the repreher* 
sion of Francesco Stabili, commonly called Cecco d'Ascoii 
in his Acerba, lib. i. c. i. 

In cib peccasti, O Fiorentin poeta, 

Ponendo che li ben della fortuna 

Necessitati sieno con lor meta. 

Non e fortuna, cui ragion non vinca 

Or pensa Dante, se prova nessuna 

Si pub piu fare che questa convinca. 

Herein, O bard of Florence, didst thou err, 

Laying it down that fortune's largesses 

Are fated to their goal. Fortune is none, 

That reason cannot conquer. Mark thou, Dante, 

If any argument may gainsay this. 

2 Each star.] So Boccaccio: "Giii ogni Stella a cacer co- 
roincib, che salia " Dec. G. 3, at the end. 

3 A different track. J Una via diversa. Some understand 
this " a strange path ;" as the word is used in the prece- 
ding Canto ; "fiera crudele e diversa," "monster fierce and 
strange:" and in the Vita Nuova, "visi diversi ed orribili a 
vedere " " visages strange and horrible to see." 



SS THE VJSIOjS, 118- 1 34 

The good instructor spake : " Now seest thou, son 
The souls of those, whom anger overcame. 
This too for certain know, that underneath 
The water dwells a multitude, whose sighs 
Into these bubbles make the surface heave, 
As thine eye tells thee wheresoever it turn. 
Fix'd in the slime, they say: •' Sad once were we, 
( In the sweet air made gladsome by the sun, 
* Carrying a foul and lazy mist within : 
1 Xow in these murky settlings are we sad.' 
Such dolorous strain they gurgle in their throats, 
But word distinct can utter none.''' Our route 
Thus comtass"d we, a segment widely stretch'd 
Between the dry embankment, and the core 
Of the loath'd pool, turning meanwhile our eyes 
Downward on those who gulp'd its muddy lees : 
N or stopp'd, till to a tower's low base we came 

CAXTO VIII 

ARGUMENT. 
A signal having been made from the tower. Fhlegyas. (he 
ferryman of the lake, speedily crosses it, and conveys Vir 
gil and Dante to the other side. On their passage, they 
meet with Filippo Argenti, whose fun,- and torment are 
described. They then arrive at the city of Dis, the en- 
trance whereto is denied, and the portals closed against 
them by many Demons. 

My theme pursuing, 1 I relate, that ere 
We reach' d the lofty turret's base, our eyes 
Its height ascended, where we mark'd uphung 
Two cressets, and another saw from far 

1 My theme pursuing.] It is related by some of the early 
commentators, that the seven preceding Cantos were found 
at Florence after cur Poet's banishment, by some one. who 
was searching over his papers, which were "left in that city: 
that by this person they were taken to Dino Frescobaldi ; and 
that he, being much delighted with them, forwarded them to 
the Zylarchese Morello Malaspina, at whose entreaty the poem 
was resumed. This account, though very circumstantialiy 
related, is rendered improbable by the prophecy of Ciacco in 
the sixth Canto, which must have been written after the 
events to which it alludes. The manner in which the pres- 
ent Canto opens furnishes no proof of the truth of the report : 
for. as Maffei remarks in his Osservazioni Letterarie, torn. ii. 
p. "249. refeired to by Lombardi, it might as well be affirmed 
that Ariosto was interrupted in his Orlando Fr.rioso, because 
he begins c. xvi., 

Dico la belia storia ripigliando 
Knd c xxii. 

Ma torcando al lavor, che \ario ordisco 



5-43. HELL, Canto VIII. 89 

Return the signal, so remote, that scarce 
The eye could catch its beam. I, turning round 
To the deep source of knowledge, thus inquired: 
; * Say what this means ; and what that other light 
In answer set : what agency doth this l" 

" There on the filthy waters," he replied, 
" E'en now what next awaits us mayst thou see, 
If the marsh-gender d fog conceal it not." 

Never was arrow from the cord dismiss* d, 
That ran its way so nimbly through the air, 
As a small bark, that through the waves I spied 
Toward us coming, under the sole sway 
Of one that ferried it, who cried aloud : [zy^r 

"Art thou arrived, fell spirit?" — " Phlegyas, Ihle- 
This time thou criest in vain," my lord replied ; 
-• No longer shalt thou have us, but while o'er 
The slimy pool we pass." As one who hears 
Of some great wrong he hath sustain'd, whereat 
Inly he pines ; so Phlegyas inly pined 
In his fierce ire. My guide, descending, stcpp'd 
Into the skiff, and bade me enter next, 
Close at his side ; nor, till my entrance, seem'd 
The vessel freighted. Soon as both embark'd, 
Cutting the waves, goes on the ancient prow, 
Mor* deeply than with others it is wont. 

While we our course' 2 o'er the dead channel held, 
One drench'd in mire before me came, and said : 
4i Who art thou, that thus comest ere thine hour?" 

I answer'd : " Though I come, I tarry not ; 
But who art thou, that art become so foul ?" 

" One, as thou seest, who mourn :" he straight 
replied. 

To which I thus : " In mourning and in wo, 
Curst spirit ! tarn* thou. I know thee well, 
E'en thus in filth disguised." Then stretch'd he forth 
Hands to the bark ; whereof my teacher sage 
Aware, thrusting him back : " Away ! down there 
To the other dogs !" then, with his arms my neck 
Encircling, kiss'd my cheek, and spake : " O soul, 
Justly disdainful ! blest was she in whom 

1 Phlegyas .] Phlegyas, who was so incensed against Apol- 
lo, for having violated his daughter Coronis. that he set fire to 
tho temple of that deitv, bv whose vengeance he was cast 
into Tartarus. See Yirg. Mn., 1. vi. 618. 
a Whue ice our course.] 

.Solcando noi per quella morta gora. 

Frczzi II Quadrir., lit). Li. cap. 7 



^0 THE VISION. «-?» 

Thou wast cancelled. 1 He in the worid was one 
For arrogance noted : to his memory 

V; -..:::.: Icziis .:.s \:.s::~ : iT:i 5: 

Here is his shadow furious. There above. 

H:~ :j-:-i"-7 i-:~ :::'.i :r.r:nsr>fs ^i:;:::v kji^s, 

^V::; ;::; r P'.--r 5 iz~ 5 :_ 2 . . — i'itt 12 ::;f :;;-r. 

[ ri-jir :rii:::i Tiiem L-_:r:."::".r Lspri^r."' 

I -:.-.:. : " M-lstt: . :__::: :i.iz ~:u".i I bri.j"-i 

V\~L: ; . _ - 

H: :ii_5 "' 0: :r ~..:^ 

Br : ~ : : : s i::s:b r i - . : :. . '.: e :ii 1: ~ . s 2 . 

e 1 b : r a : .pledon/ 5 Scarce his wonk 
: e::iri — iifz I S2~ : : = 

Sd m him with such violence, that yet 
F:r ::;i: rriiifr I Thinks t: L-r.-.f. i:;d pziis-- 
•■ 7: F_:pi : A:^t:t:. .' : :z: - :.. 
A:.i ;tt 22-:: :kf :::::; Fl: 
TTirki :v.5 it::,-.:: ::.;:. ^ H .::_". ::::r "t \-i\. 
N 1 speak I of him more. But on mine ear 



w - - 



as 



ll s: ?■: 



/au-109. HELL, Canto VIII. 9i 

More than a thousand, who of old from heaven 
Were shower d. 1 With ireful gestures, " Who is 
this,'' [through 

They cried, " that, without death first felt, goea 
The regions of the dead?" My sapient guide 
Made sign that he for secret parley wish'd ; 
Whereat their angry scorn abating, thus 
They spake : " Come thou alone ; and let him go ? 
Who hath so hardily enter d this realm. 
Alone return he by his witless way ; 
If well he know it, let him prove. For thee, 
Here sha*t thou tarry, who through clime so dark 
Hast been his escort.'' Now bethink thee, reader ! 
What cheer was mine at sound of those curst words 
I did believe I never should return. 

" O my loved guide ! who more than seven times 8 
Security hast renderd me, and drawn 
From peril deep, whereto I stood exposed, 
Desert me not," I cried, " in this extreme. 
And, if our onward going be denied, 
Together trace we back our steps with speed." 

My liege, who thither had conducted me, 
Replied ; " Fear not : for of our passage none 
Hath power to disappoint us, by such high 
Authority permitted. But do thou 
Expect me here ; meanwhile, thy wearied spirit 
Comfort, and feed with kindly hope, assured 
I will not leave thee in this lower world." 

This said, departs the sire benevolent, 
And quits me. Hesitating I remain 
At war, 'twixt will and will not, 3 in my thoughts. 



■ From neaveii 



Were shoicer'd.] Da ciel piovuti. 
Thus Frezzi : 

Li maladetti piovuti da cielo. 

II Quad., lib. iv. cap. 4 
And Pulci, in the passage cited in the note to C. xxi. 117. 

* Seven times.] The commentators, says Venturi, perplei 
themselves with the inquiry, what seven perils these were 
from which Dante had been delivered by Virgil. Reckoning 
the beasts in the first Canto as one of them, and adding Cha 
ron, Minos, Cerberus, Plutus, Phlegyas, and Filippo Argenti, 
as so many others, we shall have the number ; and if this ba 
not satisfactory, we may suppose a determinate to have beea 
put for an indeterminate number. 
3 At war Hwixt will and will not.\ 

Che si, e no nel capo mi tenzona. 
T>eos our Poet in his eighth Canzone : 

Ch' il si, e'l nb tututto in vostra raano 
Ha posto amore 



92 THE VISION. UO-ns 

I could not hear what terms he ofTerd them, 
But they conferr'd not long, for all at once 
Pellmell 1 rusli'd back within. Closed were the gate* 
By tJiose our adversaries, on the breast 
Of my liege lord : excluded, he return'd 
To me with tardy steps. Upon the ground 
His eyes were bent, and from his brow erased 
All confidence, while thus in sighs he spake . 
'-' Who hath denied me these abodes of wo?" 
Then thus to me ; " That I am angerd, think 
N o ground of terror : in this trial I 
Shall vanquish, use what arts they may within 
For hindrance. This their insolence, not new/ 
Erewhile at gate less secret they displav'd, 
Which still is without bolt ; upon its arch 
Thou saw'st the deadly scroll : and even now. 
On this side of its entrance, down the steep. 
Passing the circles, unescorted, comes 
One whose strong might can open us this land." 



C A X T O IX. 

ARGUMENT. 
After some hinderartces, and having seen the hellish furies 
and other monsters, the Poet, by the help of- an ansek 
enters the city of Dis, wherein he "discovers that the here- 
tics are punished in tombs burning with intense fire : and 
he. together with Virgil, passes onward between the sep 
ulchres and the walls of the city. 

The hue. 3 which coward dread on my pale cheeks 
Imprinted when I saw my guide turn back. 
Chased that from his which newly they had worn,. 

And Boccaccio, Ninf. Fiesol., st. 233: 

II si e il no nel capo gli contende. 
The words I have adopted as a translation, are S\ak 
speare's. Measure for Measure, a. ii. s. 1. 

1 Pellmell] A pruova. " Certatim." "Al'envi." I had 
before translated, l, To trial ;" and have to thank Mr. Carlyle 
for detecting the error. 

2 This their insolence, not neu.'] Virgil assures our Poet, 
that these evil spirits had formerly shown the same insolence 
when our Saviour descended into hell. They attempted to 
prevent him from entering at the gate, over which Dante had 
read the fatal inscription. "That gate which," says the 
Roman poet. " an angel had just passed, by whose aid we 
shall overcome this opposition, and gain admittance into the 
city." 

3 The hue.] Virgil, perceiving that Dante was pale with 
fear, restrained those outward tokens of displeasure which 
his own countenance had betraved. 



4-38 HELL, Canto IX. 93 

And inwardly restrain'd it. He, as one 
Who listens, stood attentive : for his eye 
Not far could bad him through the sable air, 
And the thick-gathering cloud. " It yet behooves 
We win this fight ;" thus he began : " if not, 
Such aid to us is offer'd. — Oh ! how long 
Me seems it, ere the promised help arrive " 

I noted, how the sequel of his words 
Cloaked their beginning ; for the last he spake 
Agreed not with the first. But not the less 
My fear was at his saying ; sith I drew 
To import worse, perchance, than that he held, 
His mutilated speech. " Doth ever any 
Into this rueful concave's extreme depth 
Descend, out of the first degree, whose pain 
Is deprivation merely of sweet hope ?" 

Thus I inquiring. " Rarely," he replied, 
M It chances, that among us any makes 
This journey, which I wend. Erewhile, 'tis true, 
Once came I here beneath, conjured by fell 
Erictho, 1 sorceress, who compell'd the shades 
Back to their bodies. No long space my flesh 
Was naked of me, 2 when within these walls 
She made me enter, to draw forth a spirit 
From out of Judas' circle. Lowest place 
Is that of all, obscurest, and removed 
Farthest from heaven's all-circling orb. The road 
Full well I know : thou therefore rest secure. 
That lake, the noisome stench exhaling, round 
The city of grief encompasses, which now 
We may not enter without rage." Yet more 
He added : but I hold it not in mind, 
For that mine eye toward the lofty tower 
Had drawn me wholly, to its burning top , 
Where, in an instant, I beheld uprisen 

i Erictho.} Erictho, a Thessalian sorceress, according ttf 
Luean, Pharsal., 1. vi., was employed by Sextus, son of Fora- 
pcy the Great, to conjure up a spirit, who should infcmi hini 
of the issue of the civil wars between his father and Caesar. 

- No long- space my flesh 

TVas naked of me.] 

Quae corpus complexa animae tarn fortis inane. 

Ovid. Met., 1. xiii. fab. 2. 
Dante appears to have fallen into an anachronism. Virgil's 
death did not happen till long after this period. But Lorn- 
bardi shows, in opposition to the other commentators, that 
the anachronism is only apparent. Erictho might well have 
survived the battle of Pharsalia long enough to be employed 
in her magical practices at the time of Virgil's decease. 



94 THE VISION. 39-G6 

At once three hellish furies stain' d with blood : 
In limb and motion feminine they seem'd ; 
Around them greenest hydras twisting roll'd 
Their volumes. ; adders and cerastes 1 crept 
Instead of hair, and their fierce temples bound. 

He, knowing well the miserable hags 
Who tend the qUeen of endless wo, thus spake : 
" Mark thou each dire Erynnis. To the left. 
This is Megsera ; on the right hand, she 
Who wails, Alecto ; and Tisiphone 
I' th' midst." This said, in silence he remain'd. 
Then breast they each one clawing tore ; them* 

selves raised.] 

Smote with their palms, and such thrill clamoi 
That to the bard I clung, suspicion-bound. 
'' Hasten Medusa : so to adamant 
Him shall we change ;" all looking down exclaim'd : 
" E'en when by Theseus' might assail'd, we took 
No ill revenge." " Turn thyself round, and keep 
Thy countenance hid : for if the Gorgon dire 
Be shown, and thou shouldst view it, thy return 
Upwards would be for ever lost." This said, 
Himself, my gentle master, turn'd me round ; 
Nor trusted he my hands, but with his own 
He also hid me. Ye of intellect 
Sound and entire, mark well thf ore 2 conceal'd 
Under close texture of the mystic strain. 

And now there came o'er the perturbed waves 
Loud-crashing, terrible, a sound that made 

1 Adders and cerastes.] 

Vipereuni crinem vittis innexa cruentis. 

Virg. JEn., 1. vi. 281. 
spinaque vagi torquente cerastse 

* * * * * * 

* * * et torrida dipsas 

Et gravis in gerninum vergens caput amphisbsena. 

Lucan. PharsaL, 1. ix. 719 
So Milton : 

Scorpion and asp, and amphisbsena dire, 
Cerastes horn'd, hydras and elops drear, 
And dipsas. P. /,., b. x. 5£4 

2 The lore.] The poet probably intends to call the reader s 
attention to the allegorical and mystic sense of the present 
Canto, and not, as Venturi supposes, to that of the whole 
work. Landino supposes this hidden meaning to be, that in 
the case of those vices which proceed from incontinence and 
intemperance, reason, which is figured under the person of 
Virgil, with the ordinary grace of God, may be a sufficient 
safeguard ; but that in the instance of more heinous crimes, 
such as those we shall hereafter see punished, a special 
grace, represented bv the angel, is requisite for our defence 



U7-97 HELL, Canto IX. 95 

Either shore tremble, as if of a wind 1 
Impetuous, from conflicting vapors sprung, 
That 'gainst some forest driving all his might. 
Plucks off the branches, beats them down, and hurls 
Afar f then, onward passing, proudly sweeps 
His whirlwind rage, while beasts and shepherds fly. 

Mine eyes he loosed, and spake : " And now direct 
Thy visual nerve along that ancient foam, 
There, thickest where the smoke ascends." As frogs 
Before their foe the serpent, through the wave 
Ply swiftly all, till at the ground each one 
Lies on a heap ; more than a thousand spirits 
Destroy'd, so saw I fleeing before one 
Who pass'd with unwet feet the Stygian sound 
He, from his face removing the gross air, 
Oft his left hand forth stretch'd, and seem'd alone 
By that annoyance wearied. I perceived 
That he was sent from heaven ; and to my guide 
Turn'd me, who signal made, that I should stand 
Quiet, and bend to him. Ah me ! how full 
Of noble anger seem'd he. To the gate 
He came, and with his wand 3 touch' d it, whereat 
Open without impediment it flew. 

i; Outcasts of heaven ! O abject race, and scom'd !" 
Began he, on the horrid grunsel standing, 
" Whence doth this wild excess of insolence 
Lodge in you? wherefore kick you 'gainst that will 
Ne'er frustrate of its end, and which so oft 
Hath laid on you enforcement of your pangs ? 
What profits, at the fates to butt the horn ? 
Your Cerberus, 4 if ye remember, hence 

1 A icind.\ Imitated by Berni : 

Com' un gruppo di vento in la marina 

L' onde, e le navi sottosopra caccia, 

Ed in terra con furia repentina 

Gli arbori abbatte, sveglie, sfronda e straccia. 

Smarriti fnggon i lavoratori 

E per le selve le here e' pastori. Orl. Inn., lib. i. c. ii. st. 6. 

2 Afar.'] "Porta i fiori," " carries away the blossoms," is 
the common reading. "Porta fnori," which is the right 
reading, adopted by Lombardi in his edition from the Nido- 
beatina, for which he claims it exclusively, I had also seen 
in Landino's edition of 1484, and adopted from thence, long 
before it was mv chance to meet with Lombard'. 

3 With his wand.] 

She with her rod did softly smite the raile, 
Which straight flew ope. Spenser, F. Q., b. iv. c. iii. st. 4G. 
* Ycur Cerberus.] Cerberus is feigned to have been dragged 

ny Hercules, bound with a threefold chain, of which, says 

tfie angel, he still bears the marks. 



96 THE VISION. 98-124 

Bears still, peel'd of their hair, his throat and maw* 

This said, he turn' d back o'er the filthy way, 
And syllable to us spake none : but wore 
The semblance of a man by other care 
Beset, and keenly press'd. than thought of trim 
Who in his presence stands. Then we our steps 
Toward that territory moved, se-cure 
After the hallow'd words. We, unopposed, 
There enterd ; and, my mind ea^er to learn 
What state a fortress like to that might hold, 
I, soon as enterd. throw mine eye around, 
And see, on every part, wide-stretching space, 
Replete with bitter pain and torment ill. 

As where Rhone stagnates on the plains of Aries, 
Or as at Pola, 2 near Quarnaro's gulf, 
That closes Italy and laves her bounds. 
The place is all thick spread with sepulchres ; 
So was it here, save what in horror here 
Excell'd : for "midst the graves were scatter'd flames 
Wherewith intensely all throughout they biirn'd, 3 
That iron for no craft there hotter needs. 

Their lids all hung suspended ; and beneath, 
From them forth issued lamentable moans. 
Such as the sad and tortured well might raise. 

I thus : *'•' Master ! say who are these, hit err d 
Within these vaults, of whom distinct we hear 
The dolorous siffhs." He answer thus return'd : 



Lombardi blames the other interpreters for haying sup 
posed that the angel attributes this exploit to Hercules, a 
fabulous hero, rather than to our Saviour. It would seem as 
if the good father had forgotten that Cerberus is himself no 
less a creature of the imagination than the hero who en 
countered him. 

1 The plains of Aries.] In Provence. See Ariosto, Orl 
Fur., c. xxxix. st. 72 : 

Fu da ogni parte in quest' ultima guerra 

(Benche la cosa non fu ugual divi 

Ch 1 assai piu andar dei Sarachi sotterra 

Per man di Bradamante e di Marfisa) 

Se ne vede ancor segno in quelia terra. 

Che presso ad Arli. ove il Rodano stagiia. 

Piena di sepolture e la campagna. 
These sepulchres are mentioned in the Life of Charlemagne, 
which goes under the name of Archbishop Turpin, cap. 28 and 
30, and by Fazio de<rli Uberti. Dittamondo. L. iv. cap. xxi. 

dt Pola.] A city of Istria, situated near the gulf of 
Uuarnaro. in the Adriatic sea. 

3 TJkv burn'd.] Mr. Darley observes, that in the Incanta- 
tion of Heivor (vide Northern Antiquities, vol. ii.) the spiri? 
of Angantyr lies in a tomb " all on fire." 



125-131. HELL, Canto X. 97 

" The arch-heretics are here, accompanied 
By every sect their followers ; and much more, 
Than thou believest, the tombs are freighted : like 
With like is buried ; and the monuments 
Are different in degrees of heat." This said. 
He to the right hand turning, on we pass'd 
Betwixt the afflicted and the ramparts high. 



CANTO X. 

ARGUMENT. 

Dante, haying obtained permission from his guide, lolds dis 
course with Farinata degli Uberti and Cavalcante Caval 
canti, who lie in their fiery tombs that are yet open, and 
not to be closed up till after the last judgment. Farinata 
predicts the Poet's exile from Florence ; and shows him 
that the condemned have knowledge of future things, but 
are ignorant of what is at present passing, unless it be re 
vealed by some new-comer from earth. 

Now by a secret pathway we proceed, 
Between the walls, that hem the region round, 
And the tormented souls : my master first, 
I close behind his steps. " Virtue supreme I" 
I thus began : * ; who through these ample orbs 
In circuit lead'st me, even as thou will'st ; 
Speak thou, and satisfy my wish. May those, 
Who lie within these sepulchres, be seen? 
Already all the lids are raised, and none 
O'er them keeps watch." He thus in answer spake 
•'* They shall be closed all, what-time they here 
From Josaphat 1 return'd shall come, and bring 
Their bodies, which above they now have left. 
The cemetery on this part obtain, 
With Epicurus, all his followers, 
Who with the body make the spirit die. 
Here therefore satisfaction shall be soon, 
Both to the question ask'd, and to the wish 2 

1 Josaphat.] t seems to have been a common opinion 
among the Jews, as well as among many Christians, that the 
general judgment will be held in the valley of Josaphat, or 
Jehoshaphat : " I will also gather all nations, and will bring 
them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead 
with them there for my people, and for my heritage Israel, 
whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my 
land." Joel, iii. 2. 

2 The wish.] The wish, that Dante had not expressed, was 
to see and converse with the followers of Epicurus ; among 
whom, we shall see, were Farinata degli Uberti and Caval- 
tante Cavaicanti. 

9 



98 THE ^ ISION. i9-5d 

Whicu thou conceal'st in silence.'' I replied : 
" I keep not. guide beloved ! from thee my heart 
Secreted, but to shun vain length of words : 
A lesson erewhile taught me by thyself/'* 

" O Tuscan ! thou, who through the city of tire 
Alive art passing, so discreet of speech : 
Here, please thee, stay awhile. Thy utterance 
Declares the place of thy nativity 
To be that noble land, with which perchance 
I to d severely dealt.*' Sudden that sound 
Forth issued from a vault, whereat, in fear. 
I somewhat closer to my leader's side [Turn 

Approaching, he thus spake : " What dost thou • 
Lo ! Farinata 1 there, who hath himself 
Uplifted : from his girdle upwards, all 
Exposed, behold him.'* On his face was : 
Already fix'd : his breast and forehead there 
Erecting, seem'd as in high scorn he held 
E'en hell. Between the sepulchres, to him 
My guide thrust me. with fearless hands and prompt , 
This warning added : " See thy words be clear.''" 

He, soon as there I stood at the tomb's foot, 
Eyed me a space : theji in disdainful mood 
Address'd me : u . Say what ancestors were thine." 

I. willing to obey him. straight reveal'd 
The whole, nor kept back aught : whence he 3 his 

brow 
Somewhat uplifting, cried : " Fiercely were they 
Adverse to me. my party, and the blood 
From whence I sprang : twice, 2 therefore, I abroad 
Scatter'd them.''' " Though driven out. yet they 

each time 
From all parts," answer'd I, ;; return'd : an art 
Which yours have shown they are not skill'd to learn M 



i Farinata.] Farinata degli Uberti, a noble Florentine, 
was the leader of the Ghibelline faction, when they obtained 
a signal victory over the Guelri at Montaperto, near the river 
Arbia. Macctiiavelii calls him " a man of exalted soul, and 
great military talents." Hist, of Flor., b. il. His grandson. 
Bonifacio, or" as he is commonly called. Fazio degli Uberti, 
tvrote a poem, entitled the Diuaiiiondo. in imitation of Dante. 
[ shall have frequent occasion to refer to it throughout 
these notes. At the conclusion of cap. 27, 1. ii. he makes 
mention of his ancestor Farinata. See note to Life of Dante, 
p. 28. 

2 Twice.] The first time in 1248. when they were driven 
out by Frederick the Second. See G. Villani. lib. vi. c 34 
*nd the second time in 1260. See note to v. 83. 



Sl-ti-t. HELL, canto X. 99 

Then, peering forth from the unclosed jaw, 
Rose from his side a shade, 1 high as the chin, 
Leaning, methought, upon its knees upraised. 
It look'd around, as eager to explore 
If there were other with me ; but perceiving 
That fond imagination quench'd, with tears 
Thus spake : M If thou through this blind prison go'st, 
Led by thy lofty genius and profound, 
Where is my son ! 2 and wherefore not with thee ? ?s 

I straight replied : '•' Xot of myself I come ; 
By him, who there expects me, through this clime 
Conducted, whom perchance Guido thy son 
Had in contempt." 3 Already had his words 
And mode of punishment read me his name, 



1 A shade.] The spirit of Cavalcante Cavalcanti, a noble 
Florentine, of the Guelph party. 

- My son.] Guido, the son of Cavalcante Cavalcanti ; "he 
whom* I call the first of my friends," says Dante in his Vita 
Nuova, where the commencement of their friendship is re- 
lated. From the character given of him by contemporary 
writers, his temper was well formed to assimilate with that 
of our poet. "He was," according to G. Villani, lib. viii. c. 
41, "of a philosophical and elegant mind, if he had not been 
too delicate and fastidious." And Dino Compagni terms him 
" a young and noble knight, brave and courteous, but of a 
lofty, scornful spirit, much addicted to solitude and study." 
Mufatori, Rer. Ital. Script., t. 9, lib. i. p. 481. He died, either 
in exile at Serrazana, or soon after his return to Florence, 
December, 1300, during the spring of which year the action 
of this poem is supposed to be passing. 

3 Guido thy son 

Had in contempt.] 

Guido Cavalcanti, being more given to philosophy than 
poetry, was, perhaps, no great admirer of Virgil. Some po- 
etical compositions by Guido are, however, still extant; and 
his reputation for skill in the art was such as to eclipse that 
of his predecessor and namesake, Guido Guinicelli ; as we 
shall see in the Purgatory, Canto xi., in the notes to which 
the reader will find specimens of the poems that have been 
left by each of these writers. His " Canzone sopra il Ter- 
reno Amore" was thought worthy of being illustrated by nu- 
merous and ample commentaries. Crescimbeni, 1st. della 
Volg. Poes., lib. v. 

Our Author addressed him in a playful sonnet, of which 
the following spirited translation is found in the notes to 
Hayley's Essay on Epic Poetry, Ep. iii. : 

Henry ! 1 wish that you, and Charles, and I, 
By some sweet spell within a bark were placed. 
A gallant bark with magic virtue graced, 
Swift at our will with every wind to fly ; 

So that no changes of the shifting sky, 
No stormy terrors of the watery waste, 
Might bar our course, but heighten still our taste 
Of sprightly joy, and of our social tie : 



100 THE VISION. 65-tf) 

Whence I so fully answer'd. He at once 
Exclainrd, upstarting : " How ! said'st thou, he had ? l 
No longer lives he ? Strikes not on his eye 
The blessed daylight V s Then, of some delay 
I made ere my reply, aware, down fell 
Supine, nor after forth appear d he more. 

Meanwhile the other, great of soul, near whom 
I yet was stationed, changed not countenance stem 
Nor moved the neck, nor bent his ribbed side. 
" And if," continuing the first discourse, 
fi They in this art," he cried, " small skill have showi. ; 
That doth torment me more e'en than this bed. 
But not yet fifty times 2 shall be relumed 
Her aspect, who reigns here queen of this realm, 5 
Ere thou shalt know the full weight of that art. 
So to the pleasant world mayst thou return, 4 



Then that my Lucy, Lucy fair and free, 

With those soft nymphs, on whom your souls are hent, 

The kind magician might to us convey. 
To talk of love throughout the live-long day : 

And that each fair might be as well content, 

As I in truth believe our hearts would be. 

The two friends, here called Henry and Charles, are, in the 
original, Guido and Lapo, concerning the latter of whom, see 
the Life of Dante prefixed ; and Lucy is Monna Bice. 

A more literal version of the sonnet may be found in the 
u Canzoniere of Dante, translated by Charles Lyell, Esq." 
dvo, London, 1835, p. 407. 

i Said'st thou, he had? J In JEschylus, the shade of Darius 
Is represented as inquiring with similar anxiety after the fate 
of his son Xerxes : 

Mossa. MovdSa £1 E/p£iyi> epr](i6v (paviv ov 7roAAu3j< fxira 

Darius. UiSig fa cq Kai irol rcXevrav : lari rig cwTJipia ; 

nEP2AI. 741, Bloomfield's Edit. 

Atossa. Xerxes astonish'd, desolate, alone- — [safe ? 

Ghost of Dar. How will this end 1 Nay, pause not. Is he 
The Persians. Potter's Translation. 

2 Not yet fifty times.] "Not fifty months shall be passed 
before thou shalt learn, by woful experience, the difficulty 
of returning from banishment to thy native city." 

s Queen of this realm.] The moon, one of whose titles in 
heathen mythology, was Proserpine, queen of the shades 
beiow. 

4 So to the pleasant world mayst thou return.] 
E se tu mai nel dolce mondo reggi. 

Lomb-ardi would construe this : " And if ft ou ever remain 
in the pleasant world." His chief reasons for thus departing 
from the common interpretation, are, first, that "se" in the 
sense of "so" cannot be followed by "mai," any more than 
in Latin, " sic" can be followed by " unquam ;" and next, 
that "reggi" is too unlike "riedi" to be put for it. A more 



£1-03. HELL, Canto X J 01 

As thou shalt tell me why, in all their laws. 
Against my kin this peopie is so fell." 

" The slaughter 1 and great havoc," I replied, 
11 That color'd Arbia's flood with crimson stain — 
To these impute, that in our hallow'd dome 
Such orisons* 2 ascend." Sighing he shook 
The head, then thus resumed : " In that affray 
I stood not singly, nor, without just cause. 
Assuredly, should with the rest have stirr'd ; 
But singly there I stood, 3 when, by consent 
Of all, Florence had to the ground been razed, 
The one who openly forbade the deed." 

(i So may thy lineage 4 find at last repose," 

intimate acquaintance with the early Florentine writers wmld 
have taught him that "mai" is used in other senses than those 
which "unquam" appears to have had, particularly in that 
of "pur, 1 ' " yet;" as may be seen in the notes to the Decam- 
eron, p. 43, Ed. Giunti. 1.573; and that the old writers both of 
prose and verse changed "riedo" into " reggio," as of "hedo" 
they made " l'eggio." ~ Inf., c. xv. v. 39, and c. xvii. v. 75. See 
page 98 of the same notes to the Decameron, where a poet 
before Dante's time is said to have translated "Redeunt 
fiores," "lteggiono ifiori." 

1 The slaughter.] " By means of Farinata degli Uberti, 
the Guelfi were conquered by the army of king Manfredi, 
near the river Arbia, with so great a slaughter, that those 
who escaped from that defeat took refuge, not in Florence, 
which city they considered as lost to them, but in Lucca. " 
Macchiavelli, Hist, of Flor., b. ii., and G. Villani, lib. vi. c. 
lxxx. and lxxxi. 

2 Such orisons.] This appears to allude to certain prayers 
which were offered up in the churches of Florence, for deliv- 
erance from the hostile attempts of the Uberti: or. it may be, 
that the public councils being held in churches, the speeches 
delivered in them against the Uberti are termed '• orisons," oi 
prayers. 

3 Singly there I stood.] Guido Xovello assembled a council 
of the Ghibcllini at Empoli ; where it was agreed by all, that, 
in order to maintain the ascendency of the Ghibeinne party 
in Tuscany, it was necessary to destroy Florence, which could 
serve only (the people of that city being Guelfi) to enable the 
party attached to the church to recover its strength. This 
cruel sentence, passed upon so noble a city, met with no op- 
position from any of its citizens or friends, except Farinata 
degli Uberti, who openly and without reserve forbade the 
measure ; affirming, that "he had endured so many hardships, 
and encountered so many dangers, with no other view than 
that of being able to pass his days in his own country. Mac- 
chiavelli. Hist, of Flor., b. ii. 

4 Ss may thy lineage. J 

Deh se riposi mai vostra semenza. 

Here Lombardi is again mistaken, as at v. 80, above. Let 
me take this occasion to apprize the reader of Italian poetry, 
that one not well versed in it is very apt to misapprehend 



102 THE VISION. U4-138 

I thus adjured him, " as thou solve this knot, 
Which now involves my mind. If right I hear, 
Ye seem to view beforehand that which time 
Leads with him, of the present uninform d." 

" We view, 1 as one who hath an evil sight," 
He answer'd, " plainly, objects far remote ; 
So much of his large splendor yet imparts 
The Almighty Ruler : but when they approtah, 
Or actually exist, our intellect 
Then wholly fails ; nor of your human state, 
Except what others bring us, know we aught. 
Hence therefore mayst thou understand, that all 
Our knowledge in that instant shall expire, 
When on futurity the portals close." 

Then conscious of my fault, 2 and by remorso 
Smitten, I added thus : " Now shalt thou say 
To him there fallen, that his offspring still 
Is to the living join'd ; and bid him know, 
That if from answer, silent, I abstain'd, 
'Twas that my thought was occupied, intent 
Upon that error, which thy help hath solved." 

But now my master summoning me back 
I heard, and with more eager haste besought 
The spirit to inform me, who with him 
Partook his lot. He answer thus return'd : 
" More than a thousand with me here are laid. 
Within is Frederick, 3 second of that name, 



the word " se," as I think Cowper has done in translating 
Milton's Italian verses. A good instance of the differ, nt 
meanings in which it is used, is afforded in the following 
lines by Bernardo Capello : 

E tu, che dolcemente i fiori e 1' erba 

Con lieve corso mormorando bagni, 

Tranquillo flume di vaghezza pieno ; 
Se'l cielo al mar si chiaro t' accompagni ; 

Se punto di pietade in te si serba : 

Le mie lagrime accogli entro al tuo seno. 
Here the first " se" signifies " so," and the second, " if." 

1 We view.] The departed spirits know things past and 
to come ; yet are ignorant of things present. Agamemnon 
foretells what should happen unto Ulysses, yet ignorantly 
inquires what is become of his own son." Brown on Urne 
Burial, ch. iv. 

2 My fault.] Dante felt remorse for not having returned a« 
immediate answer to the inquiry of Cavalcante, from which 
delay he was led to believe that his son Guido was no longer 
living. 

3 Frederick.] The Emperor Frederick the Second, w ho <Ue4f 
m 1250. See notes to Co ito xiii. 



121-138. HELL, Canto XL 103 

And the Lord Cardinal jj and of the rest 

I speak not." He, this said, from sight withdrew. 

But I my steps toward the ancient bard 

Reverting, ruminated on the words 

Betokening me such ill. Onward he moved, 

And thus, in going, question'd: "Whence the amaze 

That holds thy senses wrapt ?" I satisfied 

The inquiry, and the sage enjoin'd me straight : 

u Let thy safe memory store what thou hast heard 

To thee importing harm ; and note thou this," 

With his raised finger bidding me take heed, 

" When thou shalt stand before her gracious beam. 

Whose bright eye all surveys, she of thy life 

The future tenor will to thee unfold." 

forthwith he to the left hand turn'd his feet. 
We left the wall, and towards the middle space 
Went by the path that to a valley strikes, 
Which e'en thus high exhaled its noisome steam 

CANTO XL 

ARGUMENT. 

Dante arrives at the verge of a rocky precipice which encloses 
the seventh circle, where he sees the sepulchre of Anas- 
tasius the Heretic ; behind the lid of which pausing a 
little, to make himself capable by degrees of enduring the 
fetid smell that steamed upward from the abyss, he is 
instructed by Virgil concerning the manner in which the 
three following circles are disposed, and what description 
of sinners is punished in each. He then inquires the 
reason why the carnal, the gluttonous, the avaricious 
and prodigal, the wrathful and gloomy, suffer not their 
punishments within the city of Dis. He next asks how 

i The Lord Cardinal.] Ottaviano Ubaldini, a Florentine, 
made cardinal in 1245, and deceased about 1273. On account 
of his great influence, he was generally known by the appel- 
lation of " the Cardinal." It is reported of him, that he de 
clared, if there were any such thing as a human soul, he had 
lost his for the Ghibellini. 

"I know not," says Tiraboschi, " whether it is on sufficient 
grounds that Crescimbeni numbers among the Poets of this 
age the Cardinal Uttaviano, or Ottaviano degli Ubaldini, a 
Florentine, archdeacon and procurator of the ^church of Bo- 
l)gna, afterwards made Cardinal by Innocent IV. in 1245, and 
employed in the most important public affairs, wherein, how- 
ever, he showed himself, more than became his character, a 
favorer of the Ghibellines. He died, not in the year 1272, as 
Ciaconio and other writers have reported, but at soonest after 
the July of 1273, at which time he was in Mugello with Pope 
Gregorv X." Tiraboschi Delia Poes. It., .Mr Mathias* Edit ( 
t. i. p. 140. 

3 Her gracious beam.] Beatrice. 



104 THE " > 1-20 

the ernes of usury is an tiSenet Soft; and al 

length the two Poe'ts go ton place fionvkan 

a passage leads down fie the sevcaA circle. 

. i : v the utmost verge of a high bank. 
: rag-gy rocks environ' d round, we came, 
are woes beneath, more rarac ^'d : 

And here, to shun the horrible e:: 
Of fetid exhalation upward easl 
From the profound abyss, behind the li : 
Of a great monument we stood retired,. 
Whereon tins s :::"_. ImarkM: ' Z '..■■■■:..: .:.:?? 
Pope Anastasius, 1 whom Photinus c: 
From the right path."' — I re : m :'. a : ent, behoove" 
We make delay, that somewhat firs: I 
To the dire breath accust : . i 
Regard it not" My master thus ; I : whom 
swering I spake : •• .Some Bompensaf] n : : - 
Thai tht time pass not wholly losf " He then: 
'• Lo ! how my thou ghfc . to thy wishes tend. 
My son ! 2 Within these rocks," he thus beg bb 
M Are three close circles in gradation pk : 
As these which now thou Leaves! Each :»ne is faP 
Of spirits accursed ; but that the sight alone 
Heir if may suffice thee, Listen how 
And for what cause in durz nee they abode 

*'•' Of all malicious act abhor: 
The end is injury ; and afl 
Either by force or fraud 5 works 
But fraud, because of man peculiar e 
To God is more displeas:: a . 
The fraudulent are th :o endure 

Severer pang. The violent occupy 

- Pope Anastasius.} The eommei 

concerning the person who I? here menfk d e 1 ; s . 
of the heretical Photic us. By son.: 
been Anastasias the Second 
name ; while a third set jealous of the integrity 
faith, contend that our poet has confoimded hurc " 
I Emperor of the East. Fazio degli Ubei 
author, makes him a pope : 

Ana.stasio papa in que*. bE mpc ~:r~- 

[ _ Tjtin vago a mal grado de sui 

\ - i 

: Jf§ s.on.'] The remainder of the present Canto ■ 
«onsidered as a syllabus of the whole of this part of the 
poem. 

2 Either ly fores c fraud.'] u Cum autem dnobvs nodis, 
M est aut vf. aut fraude fiat injuria . . . utnmsqoe bomiai 
alienissinum ; sed fraus odio digna majpre.** Oc de Qf-, tib 
'%. c. xi-i 



30-G8. HELL, Canto Xl 105 

All the first circle ; and because, to force, 

Three persons are obnoxious, in three rounds, 

Each within other separate, is it framed. 

To God, his neighbor, and himself, by man 

Force may be offer'd ; to himself I say, 

And his possessions, as thou soon shalt hear 

At full. Death, violent death, and painful wounda 

Upon his neighbor he inflicts ; and wastes, 

By devastation, pillage, and the flames, 

His substance. Slayers, and each one that smites 

In malice, plunderers, and all robbers, hence 

The torment imdergo of the first round, 

In different herds. Man can do violence 

To himself and his own blessings : and for tins, 

He, in the second round must aye deplore 

With unavailing penitence his crime, 

Whoever deprives himself of life and light, 

In reckless lavishment his talent wastes, 

And sorrows 1 there where he should dwell in joy, 

To God may force be offer'd, in the heart 

Denying and blaspheming his high power, 

And Nature with her kindly law contemning. 

And thence the inmost round marks with its seal 

Sodom, and Cahors, 2 and all such as speak 

Contemptuously of the Godhead in their hearts. 

" Fraud, that in every conscience leaves a stingj 
May be by man employ 'd on one, whose trust 
He wins, or on another who withholds 
Strict confidence. Seems as the latter way 
Broke but the bond of love which Nature makes. 
Whence in the second circle have their nest, 
Dissimulation, witchcraft, flatteries, 
Theft, falsehood, simony, all who seduce 
To lust, or set their honesty at pawn, 
With such vile scum as these. The other way 
Forgets both Nature's general love, and that 
Which thereto added afterward gives birth 
To special faith. Whence in the lesser circle, 
Point of the universe, dread seat of Dis, 



1 And sorrows.] This fine moral, that not to enjoy our be- 
ing: is to be ungrateful to the Author of it, is well expressed 
in Spenser, F. Q., b. iv. c. viii. st. 15. 

For he whose daies in wilful woe are worne. 
The grace of his Creator doth despise, 
That will not use his gifts for thankless nigardlse. 
* Cahors.] A city of Guienne, much 'requested by usurers. 



106 THE VISION. <>0-10i 

The traitor is eternally consumed." 

I thus : " Instructor, clearly thy discourse 
Proceeds, distinguishing the hideous chasm 
And its inhabitants with skill exact. 
But tell me this : they of the dull, fat pool, 
Whom the rain beats, or whom the tempesi drives?* 
Or who with tongues so fierce conflicting meet, 
Wherefore within the city fire -illumed 
Are not these punish'd, if God's wrath- be on them * 
And if it be not, wherefore in such guise 
Are they condemn'd?" He answer thus return'd: 
" Wherefore in dotage wanders thus thy mind. 
Not so accustom'd ? or what other thoughts 
Possess it ? Dwell not in thy memory 
The words, wherein thy ethic page 1 describes 
Three dispositions adverse to Heaven's will, 
Incontinence, malice, and mad brutishness. 
And how incontinence the least offends 
God, and least gui]fc incurs? If well thou note 
This judgment, and remember who they ar>. 
Without these walls to vain repentance dooni'tK 
Thou shalt discern why they apart are placed 
From these fell spirits, and less wreakful po^rs 
Justice divine on them its vengeance down." 
" O sun ! who healest all imperfect sight, 
Thou so content'st me, when thou solvest my doubt* 
That ignorance not less than knowledge charms. 
Yet somewhat turn thee back," I in these words 
Continued, " where thou said'st, that usury 
Offends celestial Goodness ; and this knot 
Perplex'd unravel.'' He thus made reply : 
! ' Philosophy, to an attentive ear, 
Clearly points out, not in one part alone. 
Plow imitative Nature takes her cdlu^e 
From the celestial m \\d, and from its art : 
And where her laws 2 ihe Stagirite unfolds, 



1 Thy ethic page.'] He refers to Aristotle's Ethics : " MerA 
6i ravra \zktiqv aWtjv Troirjaajxivovg dpx^iv on tuv xepl rd 
$}8ij (ptvKT&v Tola earh c'lSr] Kaxia aKpacia -S^pidrjyc." 

Ethic. Nicomach.y lib. vii. c. 1. 
u In the next place, entering on another division of the sub- 
ject, let it be defined, that respecting morals there are three 
sorts of things to be avoided, malice, incontinence, and bru 
ushness." 

2 Her laws.] Aristotle's Physics. — w f H rk%vr\ ptptlrai 
tpiv <£tW." Arhtot. ci>Y2. AKP. lib. ii. c. 2. '« Art imitates 
nature."— See Ihe Coitivazione of Alamanni, lib. i. 



106-1-21. HELL, Canto XL ]Q7 

Not many leaves scann'd o'er, observing well 
Thou shalt discover, that your art on her 
Obsequious follows, as the learner treads 
In his instructor's step ; so that your art 
Deserves the name of second in descent 1 
From God. These two, if thou recall to mind 
Creation's holy book, 2 from the beginning 
Were the right source of life and excellence. 
To human kind. But in another path 
Tne usurer walks ; and Xature in herself 
And in her follower thus he sets at naught, 
Placing elsewhere his hope. 3 But follow now 
My steps on forward journey bent ; for now 
Tiie Pisces play with undulating glance 
Along the horizon, and the Wain 4 lies all 
O'er the north-west : and onward there a space 
Is our steep passage down the rocky height. " : 



CANTO XII. 

ARGUMENT. 

Descending by a very rugged way into the seventh circle, 
where the violent are punished, Dante and his leader rind 
it guarded by the Minotaur; whose fury being pacified by 
Virgil, they step downwards from crag to crag; till, draw- 
ing near to the bottom, they descry a river of blood, wherein 
are tormented such as have committed violence against 



- Parte umana 



Altro non e da dir ch' un dolce sprone, 
Un correger soave, un pio sostegno, 
Uno esperto imitiir, comporre accorto 
Un sollecito attar con studio e'ngegno 
La cagion natural, V effetto, e '1 opr.;. 

1 Second in descent.] 

Si che vostr' arte a Dio quasi e nipote. 
So Frezzi : — 

Giustizia fu da cielo, e di Dio e figlia, 
E ogni bona legge a Dio e nipote. 

II Quadrir., lib. iv. cap. 2. 

2 Creation's holy book.] Genesis, c. ii. v. 15: "And the Loid 
God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden, to 
dress it, and to keep it." And, Genesis, c. iii. v. 19: " In the 
sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread." 

3 Placing- elsewhere his hope.] The usurer, trusting in the 
produce of his wealth lent out on usury, despises nature di- 
rectly, because he does not avail himself of her means foz 
maintaining or enriching himself; and indirectly, because he 
does not avail himself of the means which art, the follower 
And imitator of nature, would afford him for the same pur 
poses. 

4 The Wain.] The constellation Bootes, or Charles's Wain 



10S THE VISION. 1-17. 

taeii neighbor. At these, when they strive to emerge frorr. 
the blood, a troop of Centaurs, running along the side of the 
river, aim their arrows ; and three of their band opposing 
our travellers at the foot of the steep. Virgil prevails so far, 
that one consents to cam" them both across the stream ; 
■Sfcd on their passage. Dante is informed by him of thp 
course of the river, and of those that are punished therein 

The place, where to descend the precipice 
We came, was rough as Alp ; a ad on its verge 
Such object lay, as every eye would shun. 

As is that ruin, which Adice's stream 1 
On this side Trento struck, shouldering ihe wave.. 
Or loosed by earthquake or for lack of prop ; 
For from the mountain's summit, whence it moved 
To the low level, so the headlong rock 
Is shiver'd, that some passage 2 it might giv : 
To him who from above would pass ; e'en such 
Into the chasm was that descent : and there 
At point of the disparted ridge lay stretch'd 
The infamy of Crete, 3 detested brood 
Of the feign'd heifer : 4 and at sight of us 
It gnaw ? d itself, as one with rage distract, [rieem'sl 
To him my guide exclaim'd: '''Perchance thou 
The King of Athens 5 here, who, in the world 



1 Adice's stream.] After a crreat deal having been said on 
the subject, it still appears very uncertain at what par: of the 
river this fall of the mountain happened. 

2 Some passage.] Lombardi erroneously, I think, under- 
stands by "alcunavia" "no passage;*' in which sense "ai- 
cuno" is "certainly sometimes used by some old writers. 

ti. as usual, agrees with Lombardi. See note to c. hi. v. 40. 

3 The infamy of Crete.] The Minotaur. 
* The feign d heifer .] Pasiphae. 

5 The king of Athens.] Theseus, who was enabled by the 
instruction of Ariadne, the sister of the Minotaur, to destroy 
that monster. ."Duca d'Atene." So Chaucer calls Theseus 

Whilom, as olde stories tellen us. 
There was a duk. that hiehte The 3 

The Knighte's Tale 

And Shakspeare : 

Happy be Theseus, our renowned Duke. 

summer Wight's Dream, a. i. s. 1. 

" This is in reality," observes Mr. Douce. " no misappli :a 
tion of a modern title, as Mr. Stevens conceived, but a legiti- 
mate u?e of the word in its primitive Latin sense of leader 
and so it is often used in the Bible. Shakspeare mteht have 
found l>ike Theseus in the Book of Troy, or in Turberville's 
Ovid's Epistles. See the argument to 'that of Phaedra and 
B-ippolvtus.'"' Donee's FJustratioju; if Shakspeare. 8vo. 1807 
rol. i. p. 179 



i*-44. HELL, Canto XII. 103 

Above, thy death contrived. Monster ! avaunt ! 
He comes not tutor' d by thy sister's art, 1 
But to behold your torments is he come.'' 

Like to a bull, 2 that with impetuous spring 
Darts, at the moment when the fatal blow 
Hath struck him, but unable to proceed 
Plunges on either side ; so saw I plunge 
The Minotaur ; whereat the sage exclaim'd : 
il Run to the passage ! while he storms, 'tis well 
That thou descend." Thus down our road we took 
Through those dilapidated crags, that oft 
Moved underneath my feet, to weight 3 like theirs 
Unused. I pondering went, and thus he spake : 
•'•' Perhaps thy thoughts are of this ruin'd steep, 
Guarded by the brute violence, which I 
Have vanquished now. Know then, that when I erst 
Hither descended to the nether hell, 
This rock was not yet fallen. But past doubt, 
(If well I mark) not long ere He arrived, 4 
Who carried off from Dis the mighty spoil 
Of the highest circle, then through all its bounds 
Such trembling seized the deep concave and foul,, 
I thought the universe was thrill'd with love, 
Whereby, there are who deem, the world hath oft- 
Been into chaos turn'd: 5 and in that point, 
Here, and elsewhere, that old rock toppled down.. 
But fix thine eyes beneath : the river of blood 6 

1 Thy sister s art.] Ariadne. 

2 Like to a bull.] 

'£2? <$' otclv 6$vv c\u>v ttiXzkvv al^tjlog aitio, 
Kola; i^d^idzv Ktodoov (3obs tiypavXoio, 
y \va ra\ir t cid naaair, b cl TtpoQopuv Ipinrjaiv 

Homer, II., 1. xvii. 522. 
A? when some vig'rons youth with sharpen'd axe 
A pastured bullock smites behind the horns, 
And hews the muscle through ; he at the stroke 
Springs forth and falls. ' Coicper's Translation. 

3 To weight 1 

Incumbent on the duskv air 

That felt unusual weight. jlilton, P. L., h. i. 227, 

4 He arrived.] Our Saviour, who, according to Dante, 
when he ascended from hell, carried with him the souls of 
the Patriarchs, and of other just men, out of the first circle. 
See Canto iv. 

5 Been into chaos turned.] This opinion is attributed to 
Empedocles. 

• The river of blood.] Deinde vidi locum (Qu. lacum ?) 
magnum totum, ut mihi videbatur, plenum sanguine. Sed 
dixit aaihi Apostolus, sed non sanguis, sed ignis est ad con- 
10 



HO THE VISION. -15-70 

Approaches, in the which all those are steep' J, 
Who have by violence injured.'' O blind lust ! 
O foolish wrath ! who so dost goad us on 
In the brief life, and in the eternal then 
Thus miserably overwhelm us. I beheld 
An ample foss, that in a bow was bent. 
As circling all the plain ; for so my guide 
Had told. Between it and the rampart's base, 
On trail ran Centaurs, with keen arrows arnrd, 
As to the chase they on the earth were wont. 

At seeing us descend they each one stood ; 
And issuing from the troop, three sped with bows 
And missile weapons chosen first ; of whom 
One cried from far : " Say, to what pain ye come 
Condemn'd, who down this steep have journey' d 

[Speak 
From whence ye stand, or else tlie bow I draw." 

To whom my guide : " Our answer shall be made 
To Chiron, there, when nearer him we come. 
Ill was thy mind, thus ever quick and rash." 
Then me he touclrd, and spake : " Xessus is this, 
Who for the fair Deianira died, 
And wrought himself revenge 1 for his own fate. 
He in the midst, that on his breast looks down, 
Is the great Chiron who Achilles nursed ; 
That other, Pholus, prone to wrath." Around 
The foss these go by thousands, aiming shafts 
At whatsoever spirit dares emerge 2 
From out the blood, more than his guilt allows. 

We to those beasts, that rapid strode along, 
Drew near ; when Chiron took an arrow forth, 
And with the notch push'd back his shaggy beard 
To the cheek-bone, then, his great mouth to view 



cremandos homicid-as, et odiosos deputatus. Banc tamen si- 
nrilitudinem propter sanguinis etfusionem retinet. Alberici 
Visio, % 7. 

1 And wrought himself revenge.] Xessus, when dying by 
the hand of Hercules, charged Deianira to preserve the gore 
from his wound; for that if the affections of Hercules should 
at any time be estranged from her, it would act as a charm, 
and recall them. Deianira had occasion to try the experi- 
ment ; and the venom acting, as Nessus had intended. 
caused Hercules to expire in torments. See the Trachiniae 
of Sophocles. 

2 Emerge.] Multos in eis vidi usque ad talos demergi 
alios usque ad genua, ve] femora, alios usque ad pectus 
jnxta peccati vidi modum : alios vero qui majoris criminia 
noxa tenebantur in ipsis summitatibus supersedere conspexi 
%2verici Visio, § 3 



77-109 HELL, Canto XII. in 

Exposing, to lvis fellows thus exclaim'd : 

" Are ye awaie, that he who comes behind 

Moves what he touches ? The feet of the dead 

Are not so wont." My trusty guide, who now 

Stood near his breast, where the two natures join, 

Thus made reply : " He is indeed alive, 

And solitary so must needs by me 

Be shown the gloomy vale, thereto induced 

By strict necessity, not by delight. 

She left her joyful harpings in the sky, 

Who this new office to my care consign'd. 

He is no robber, no dark spirit I. 

But by that virtue, which empowers my step 

To tre*id so wild a path, grant us, I pray, 

One of thy band, whom we may trust secure ; 

Who to the ford may lead us, and convey 

Across, him mounted on his back ; for he 

Is not a spirit that may walk the air." 

Then on his right breast turning, Chiron thus 
To Nesbus 1 spake : " Return, and be their guide. 
And if ye chance to cross another troop, 
Command them keep aloof." Onward we moved, 
The faithful escort by our side, along 
The border of the crimson-seething flood, 
Whence, from those steep'd within, loud shrieks arose 

Some there I mark'd, as high as to their brow 
Immersed, of whom the mighty Centaur thus : 
" These are the souls of tyrants, who were given 
To blood and rapine. Here they wail aloud 
Their merciless wrongs. Here Alexander dwells, 
And Dionysius fell, who many a year 
Of wo wrought for fair Sicily. That brow, 
Whereon the hair so jetty clustering hangs, 



i Nessus.] Our Poet was probably induced, by the follow- 
ing line in Ovid, to assign to Nessus the task of conducting 
taem over the ford : 

Nessus adit membrisque valens scitusque vadorum. 

Metam., 1. ix. 
And Ovid's authority was Sophocles, who says of this 
Centaur — 

"Of rbv ftaQuppovv rorayibi Rv^vov ftporovg 
"Sliadov -zopevs x € P aiV °v~ e r:o[jL7iiiJiois 
Kut-aig tptccMV, ovte \ai<p£Giv vewg. 

Track. 570. 
He in his arms, across Evenus' stream 
Deep-flowing, bore the passenger for hire, 
Without or sail or billow cleaving oar. 



U2 THE VISION. U0-i26 

[s Azzolino ; a that with flaxen locks 

Obizzo 2 of Este, in the world destioy'd 

By his foul step-son." To the bard revered 

I turn'd me round, and thus he spake : " Let nim 

Be to thee now first leader, me but next 

To him in rank." Then farther on a space 

The Centaur paused, near some, who at the throat 

Were extant from the wave ; and, showing us 

A spirit by itself apart retired, 

Exclaim' d : " He 3 in God's bosom smote the heart. 

Which yet is honor'd on the bank of Thames " 

A race I next espied who held the head, 
And even all the bust, above the stream. 
Midst these I many a face remember'd well. 
Thus shallow more and more the blood became, 
So that at last it but imbrued the feet ; 
And there our passage lay athwart the foss. 

1 Azzolino.] Azzolino, or Ezzolino di Romano, a mos 
cruel tyrant in the Marca Trivigiana, Lord o»f Padua, Vicen 
za, Verona, and Brescia, who died in 1260. His atrocities 
form the subject of a Latin tragedy, called Eccerinis, by Al 
bertino Mussato, of Padua, the contemporary of Dante, and 
the most elegant writer of Latin verse of that age See also 
the Paradise, Canto ix. Berni, Orl. Inn., lib. ii. c. xxv. st. 50. 
Ariosto, Orl. Fur., c. iii. st. 33 ; and Tassoni, Secchia Rapita, 
c. viii. st. 11. 

2 Obizzo of Este.] Marquis of Ferrara and of the Marca 
d'Ancona, was murdered by his own son (whom, for that 
most unnatural act, Dante calls his step-son) for the sake of 
the treasures which his rapacity had amassed. See Aiiosto, 
Orl. Fur., c. iii. st. 32. He died in 1293, according to Gibbon, 
Ant. of the House of Brunswick, Posth. Works, v. ii.- 4to. 

s He.] " Henrie, the brother of this Edmund, and son to 
the foresaid king of Almaine, (Richard, brother of Henry III 
of England,) as he returned from Affrike, where he had been 
with Prince Edward, was slain at Yiterbo in Italy (whither 
he was come about business which he had to do with the 
Pope) by the hand of Guy de Montfort, the son of Simon de 
Montfort, Earl of Leicester, in revenge of the same Simon's 
death. The murther was committed afore the high altar, as 
the same Henrie kneeled there to hear divine service." A D. 
1272. HolinsheoV s Cftron., p. 275. See also Giov. Yillani Hist., 
lib. vii. c. 40, where it is said "that the heart of Henry was 
put into a golden cup, and placed on a pillar at London 
bridue over the river Thames, for a memorial to the English 
of the said outrage." Lombardi suggests that " ancor si 
cola" in the text may mean, not that " the heart was still 
honored," but. that it was put into a perforated cup in order 
that the blood dripping from it might excite the spectators to 
revenge. This is surely too improbable. 
Un poco prima dove piu si stava 
Sicuro Enrico, ii conte di Monforte 
L'alma del corpo col coltel gii cava. 

Fa:\o degli Uherti, Ditlamondo, 1. ii. cap, xxis 



127-140. HELL, Gamo XIII. 113 

" As ever on this side the boiling wave 
Thou seest diminishing," the Centaur said, 
" So on the other, be thou well assured. 
It lower still and lower sinks its bed, 
Till in that part it re -uniting join, 
Where 'tis the lot of tyranny to mourn. 
There Heaven's stern justice lays chastising hand 
On Attila, who was the scourge of earth, 
On Sextus and on Pyrrhus, 1 and extracts 
Tears ever by the seething flood unlock'd 
From the Rinieri, of Corneto this, 
Pazzo the other named, 2 who fill'd the ways 
With violence and war." This said, he turn'd, 
And quitting us, alone repass'd the ford 



CANTO XIII 

ARGUMENT 

Still in the seventh circle, Dante enters its second compart- 
ment, which contains both those who have done violence 
on their own persons and those who have violently con- 
sumed their goods ; the first changed into rough and knot- 
ted trees whereon the harpies build their nests, the latter 
chased and torn by black female mastiffs. Among the for 
mer, Piero delle Vigne is one who tells him the cause of 
his having committed suicide, and moreover in what man 
ner the souls are transformed into those trunks. Of the 
latter crew, he recognises Lano, a Siennese, and Giacomo, 
a Paduan : and lastly, a Florentine, who had hung himself 
from his own roof, speaks to him of the calamities of his 
countrymen. 

Ere Nessus yet had reach'd the other bank, 
We enter'd on a forest, 3 where no track 
Of steps had worn a way. Not verdant there 
The foliage, but of dusky hue ; not light 
The boughs and tapering, but with knares deform'd 
And matted thick : fruits there were none, but thorns 

» On Sextus and on Pyrrhus.] Sextus, either the son oi 
Tarquin the Proud, or of Pompey the Great ; and Pyrrhus 
king of Epirus. 

• The Rinieri, of Corneto this, 



Pazzo the other named. - 



Two noted marauders, by whose depredations the public 
ways in Italy were infested. The latter was of the noble 
family of Pazzi in Florence. 

3 A forest.] Inde in aliam vallem nimis terribiliorem 
deveni plenam subtilissimis arboribus in modum hastarum 
texaginta brachiorum longitudinem habentibus, quarum om 
nium capita, ac si sudes acutissima erant, et spinosa Jllberici 



THE FlSKKff. :-a6 

I~s:ri: ~;.;-. Tf :-.;::.; l;1;': Lrs? shirr :::i- :::e*e. 

These animals, that hate the cultured fields. 
Betwht Cometo and Cecum's stream. 1 

Hf?r :hf "::.:f K^rz.fs nukf :ht.r zr>:. :hr ?.imi 
from the Strophades 3 the Trojan band 
I'r:~f. "\:..; i._rf :m:: :: ::;rir :.:.:A:f ~.;. 
Br: 11 1:1 :hfi: r-izmzzis.* ::' :hr h 11:1: 11. :':-mi 
Their neck and countenance, arm 'd with talons keec 
Tie fee:. :-.i: :h.e hure :-r„~ hei~^d ~\:i —..i^s., 
T:;^se s.: 11.1 — :.._ ::: :.he i:ei.: 11:75::: --;■::. 

The kind instructor in these words began : 

I : farther thou proceed, know thou ait now 
F th' second round, and shall be, till thou come 
Upon the horrid sand : look therefore well 
Around thee, and such things thou shaft behold, 
As ~ h 1 my speech discredit- 3 * On all sides 
I heard sad plainiugs breathe, and none could see 
From whom they might have issued. In amaze 
Fast bound I stood. He, as it seem'd, believed 
That I had thought so many voices came 
Fr::n s::.:e izi.d :i::»sr h::::i:e:5 :fise ::r.:ei.h:. 
And thus his speech resumed : ** If thou lop off 
A single twig from one of those ill plants, 
The :::::f: :h::. :::.;: ::~:^:~tZ sliih vnhsh :i.:e "' 

Therei: 1 h::".e f:::::„i: ::rh: ::..:;•" ::::.:. 
From a great wilding gather'd I* a branch, 
And straight the trunk exclaimed ; ■* Why piuci's; 

thou me P 
Then, as the dark blood trickled down its side, 
These words it added: "Wherefore tears* ni3 thus : 
Is there no touch of mercy in thy breast ? 
M 7 _ : nee were we, that now are rooted here. 

- I--:- :: ;..-*•- ; > :: : z i Zir.-.z' i r:-i-irr..\ \ rr; ; ir. I —;>-y_-\ 
:ri:: :: ::ii:ry hhih;: :^ iee: i-.-.n*. ni vr_i ;o:- 
Cecina is a river not far to the south of Leghorn; Gametic 
e small city on the same coast, in the patrimony of fht 

thurch. 
s 7%c .StropiaAs.J See Yiig. JBku, Mb. iiL 210. 

s Broad are their jpeuMKS.] 

V ...-; . :; . r . • : . : : ; :: :i '■ : ". : :: ; :':'..- ~ : r^izr'A 
Pr:i-~ f: 'ii:i:if ::.:iif f: rsil-iii — :. if : 

o.-i :'i-f : r.v .Z'. ...: L-i. ■::-:.. 

* Gflriter^J.] So Freed: 

A^zii.f :~is:if =:.f5: si ;i n:-.i: 

r. i'1.1^ T-E-rii 12 n:ns:A. if : :!=:: : 

A-iri f". . ;:. :. : _: if . : . i.ii:.. 
E iiinif t vf -;;• : 11 :: _:::>.. 

H Qmmdrir , Bh. L cap. 4 



SIMiO HELL, Canto XIII. 115 

Thy hand might well have spared us, had we been 
The souls of serpents." As a brand yet green, 
That burning at one end from the other sends 
A groaning sound, and hisses with the wind 
That forces out its way, so burst at once 
Forth from the broken splinter words and blood. 

I, letting fall the bough, remain'd as one 
Assail'd by terror ; and the sage replied : 
" If he, O injured spirit ! could have believed 
What he hath seen but in my verse described, 1 
He never against thee had stretclvd his hand 
But I, because the thing surpass'd belief, 
Prompted him to this deed, which even now 
Myself I rue. But tell me, who thou wast ; 
That, for tins wrong to do thee some amends* 
hi the upper world (for thither to return 
Is granted him) thy fame he may revive.*' 
" That pleasa: t word of thine,'" 2 the trunk replied, 
;i Hath so inveigled me, that I from speech 
Cannot refrain, wherein if I indulge 
A little longer, in the snare detain'd, 
Count it not grievous. I it was, 3 who held 

1 In my verse described.] The commentators explain this, 
"If he could have believed, in consequence of my assurances 
alone, that of which he hath now had ocular proof, he would 
not have stretched forth his hand against thee." But I am 
of opinion that Dante makes Virgil alTude to his own story of 
Polydorus, in the third book of the JEneul. 

2 That pleasant word of thine.] " Since you have inveigled 
me to speak by holding forth so gratifying an expectation, let 
it not displease you if I am us it were detained in the snare 
you have spread for me, so as to be somewhat prolix in my 
answer." 

3 / it was.] Piero delle Vigne, a native of Capua, who 
from a low condition raised himself, by his eloquence and 
legal knowledge, to the office of Chancellor to the Emperor 
Frederick II. ; whose confidence in him was such, that his 
influence in the empire became unbounded. The courtiers, 
envious of his exalted situation, contrived, by means of fcrged 
letters, to make Frederick believe that he held a secret and 
traitorous intercourse with the Pope, who was then at enmity 
with the Emperor. In consequence of this supposed crime, 
he was cruelly condemned, by his too credulous sovereign, to 
lose his eyes ; and being driven to despair by his unmerited 
calamity and disgrace, he put an end to his life by dashing 
out his brains against the walls of a church, in the year 1245. 
Both Frederick and Piero delle Vigne composed verses in the 
Sicilian dialect, which are now extant. 

A canzone by each of them may be seen in the ninth book 
of the Sonetti and Canzoni di diversi Autori Toscani, pub- 
lished by tee Giun^ in 1527. See further the note on P'Jrg., 
Canto iii. 1 10 



116 



THE VISION. 



•-•MO. 



Both key is to Frederick's heart, and turn'd the "ward** 

Opening- and shutf'ng, with a skill so sweet. 
That besides me, into his inmost breast 
Scarce any other could admittance find. 
The faith I bore to my high charge was such. 
It cost me the life-blood that warm 'd my vein* 1 
The harlot, 1 who ne'er turn'd her gloating" eyes 
From Caesar's household, common vice and pes? 
Of courts, 'gainst me inflamed the minds of ail ; 
And to Augustus they so spread the flame, 
That my glad honors changed to bitter woes 
My soul, disdainful and disgusted, sought 
Refuge in death from scorn, and I became, 
lust as I was. unjust toward myself. 
By the new roots, which fix this stem. I swear, 
That never faith I broke to my liege lord. 
Who merited such honor : and of you. 
If any to the world indeed return, 
Clear he from wrong my memory, that lies 
Yet prostrate under envy's cruel blow." 

First somewhat pausing, till the mournful words 
Were ended, then to me the bard began : 
'* Lose not the time : but speak, and of him ask. 
If more thou wish to learn.'' Whence I replied : 
'• Question thou him again of whatsoe'er 
Will, as thou think'st. content me : for no powei 
Have I to ask. such pity is at my heart." 

He thus resumed : "So may he do for thee 
Freely what thou entreatest. as thou yet 
Be pleased, imprison d spirit ! to declare. 
Flow in these gnarled joints the soul is tied ; 
And whether any ever from such frame 
Be loosen'd. if thou canst, that also tell." 

Thereat the trunk breathed hard, and the wind soon . 
Changed into sounds articulate like these : 
•■ Briefly ye shall be answer'd. When departs 
The fierce sou: from the body, by itself 
Thence torn asunder, to the seventh gulf 
By Minos doom'd. into the wood it falls. 
No pi ace assign'd, but wheresoever chance 
Hurls it ; there sprouting, as a grain of spelt, 



i The harlot.] 

"jpgue ro The Lege 
Envie is : 
For she r 
Oar of ib 



Envy. Chaucer alludes to this, in the Pro 

ide oh Good Women : 
...vender to the cour: ahvay, 
e parteth neither nignt ne day 
e house of Cesar : thus saiih Danu 



102-135 HELL, Canto XIII. 1 IT 

It rises to a sapling, growing thence 

A savage plant. The Harpies, on its leaves 

Then feeding, cause both pain, and for the pain 

A vent to grief. We, as the rest, shall come 

For our own spoils, yet not so that with them 

We may again be clad ; for what a man 

Takes from himself it is not just he have. 

Here we perforce shall drag them ; and throughout 

The dismal glade our bodies shall be hung, 

Each on the wild thorn of his wretched shade." 

Attentive yet to listen to the trunk 
We stood, expecting farther speech, when us 
"A noise surprised ; as when a man perceives 
The wild boar and the hunt approach his place 
Of station'd watch, who of the beasts and boughs 
Loud rustling round him hears. And Io ! there came 
Two naked, torn with briers, in headlong flight, 
That they before them broke each fan o' th' wood. 
" Haste now," the foremost cried, " now haste thee 
The other, as seem'd, impatient of delay, [death !" 
Exclaiming, " Lano ! 2 not so bent for speed 
Thy sinews, in the lists of Toppo's field." 
And then, for that perchance no longer breath 
Sufficed him, of himself and of a bush 
One group he made. Behind them was the wood 
Full of black female mastiffs, gaunt and fleet, 
As greyhounds that have newly slipp'd the leash. 
On him, who squatted down, they stuck their fangs, 
And having rent him piecemeal, bore away 
The tortured limbs. My guide then seized my hand, 
And led me to the thicket, which in vain 
Mourn'd through its bleeding wounds : " O Giacomo 
Of Sant' Andrea ! 3 what avails it thee," 
It cried, " that of me thou hast made thy screen ? 

Each fan o' tli* wood.] Hence perhaps Milton : 

Leaves and fuming rills, Aurora's fan. P. Z,., b. v. 6. 
Some have translated ' ; rosta," "impediment," instead of 
"fan." 

2 Lano.\ Lano, a Siennese, who, being reduced by prodi- 
gality to a state of extreme want, found his existence no longei 
supportable ; and having been sent by his countrymen on a 
military expedition to assist the Florentines against the Are- 
tin;, took that opportunity of exposing himself to certain death, 
in the engagement which took place- at Toppo near Arezzo 
See G. Villani, Hist., lib. 7, c. cxix. 

3 O Giacomo 

Of SanV Andrea!} Jacopo da Sant' Andrea, a Paduan 
vho, having wasted his property in the r.iost wanton acts o/ 
rofusiDn, killed himsell in despair. 



US 

For : 
Wl 



THE VISIO> lX*-m 



B:-V 

Hr 

T: 5; 



An - ll: 
Caiefa 

W-o :. 
Wheac 

To wo: 
Ob A: 

TilOSr 

U-- t 

[ 5 :-™ r 



speech?" 



of their toIL 



CANTO XIV. 



I :.:-; :..*.-. vf :,: •.:.- ":.-t .; .::.r.::. j ::' 
nients into which this seven 
;. .:-.:::. ::' 1:7 iii 1". ' : sil:. ~v' 
i.-f 7 ■:::■.:::■.--: : nir^'.y. irivr. 
against Ait; and those wha 
:::ri::f i :y f..\kf5 ::' r_*f. "■;•.. 
down upon them. Among 



A::: 

F.:~ 



1-35 HELL, Canto XIV Ha 

in Crete, from a fissure in which statue theie is a drip 
ping of tears, from which the said streamlet, together 
with the three other infernal rivers, are formed> 

Soon as the charity of native land 
Wrought in my bosom, I the scatter'd leaves 
Collected, and to him restored, who now 
Was hoarse with utterance. To the limit thence 
We came, which from the third the second round 
Divides, and where of justice is displayed 
Contrivance horrible. Things then first seen 
Clearlier to manifest, I tell how next 
A plain we reach'd, that from its steril bed 
Each plant repell'd. The mournful wood waves round 
Its garland on all sides, as round the wood 
Spreads the sad foss. There, on the very edge, 
Our steps we stay'd. It was an area wide 
Of arid sand and thick, resembling most 
The soil that erst by Cato's foot 1 was trod. [fear'd 

Vengeance of Heaven ! Oh ! how shouldst thou be 
By all, who read what here mine eyes beheld. 

Of naked spirits many a flock I saw, 
All weeping piteously, to different laws 
Subjected ; for on the earth some lay supine, 
Some crouching close were seated, others paced 
Incessantly around ; the latter tribe 
More numerous, those fewer who beneath 
The torment lay, but louder in their grief. 

O'er all the sand fell slowly wafting down 
Dilated flakes of fire, 2 as flakes of snow 
On Alpine summit, when the wind is hush'd. 
As, in the torrid Indian clime, 3 the son 
Of Ammon saw, upon his warrior band 
Descending, solid flames, that to the ground 
Came down ; whence he bethought him with his troop 
To trample on the soil ; for easier thus 
The vapor was extinguish'd, while alone : 
So fell the eternal fiery flood, wherewith 
The marl glow'd underneath, as under stove 4 

i By Cato's foot.] See Lucan, Phars., lib. ix. 

« Dilated flakes of fire] Compare Tasso, G L., c. x st. 61. 

Al fin giungemmo al loco, ove gia scese 

Fiamma del cielo in dilatate falde, 

E di natura vendicb l'offese 

Sovra la gente in mal oprar si salde. 

3 As in the torrid Indian clime.] Landino refers to Albeitus 
Magnus for the circumstance here alluded to. 

4 As under stove.] So Frezzi: 

Si some I' esca al feco del f>cile. Lib i. cap. 17. 



12C THE VISION. 36-TO 

The viands, doubly to augment the pain. 
Unceasing was the play of wretched hands, 
Now this, now that way glancing, to shake off 
The heat, still falling fresh. I thus began : 
" Instructor ! thou who all things overcomest, 
Except the hardy demons that rush'd forth 
To stop our entrance at the gate, say who 
Is yon huge spirit, that, as seems, heeds not 
The burning, but lies writhen in proud scorn, 
As by the sultry tempest unmatured ?" 

Straight he himself, who was aware I ask'd 
My guide c^ him, exclaim'd : " Such as I was 
When living, dead such now I am. If Jove 
Weary his workman out, from whom in ire 
He snatch'd the lightnings, that at my last day 
Transfix'd me ; if the rest he weary out, 
At their black smithy laboring by turns, 
In Mongibello, 1 while he cries aloud, 
6 Help, help, good Mulciber !' as erst he cried 
In the Phlegraean warfare ; and the bolts 
Launch he, full aim'd at me, with all his might ; 
He never should enjoy a sweet revenge." 

Then thus my guide, in accent higher raised 
Than I before had heard him : " Capaneus ! 
Thou art more punish'd, in that this thy pride 
Lives yet unquench'd : no torment, save thy rage, 
Were to thy fury pain proportion'd full." 

Next turning round to me, with milder lip 
He spake : " This of the seven kings was one, 2 
Who girt the Theban walls with siege, and held, 
As still he seems to hold, God in disdain, 
And sets his high omnipotence at naught. 
But, as I told him, his despiteful mood 
Is ornament well suits the breast that wears 5. 
Follow me now ; and look thou set not yet 

i In Mongibello.'] 

More hot than MivC or flaming Mongibeil. 

Spenser, F. Q.. n. h. c. ix. st. 20 
Siccome alia fucina in Mongibello 
Fabrica tuono il demonio Vulcano, 
Batte folgori e foco col martello, 
E con esso i suoi fabri ia. ogni mano. 

Ber?ii, Orl. Inn*, lib. i. c. xvi. st. 21. 
See Virg. iEn., lib viii. 416. It would be endless to refer to 
parallel passages in the Greek writers. 

a This of the seven kings icas one.] Compare yEsch. Seven 
Chiefs, 425. Euripides, Phcen., ]179, and Statius, Theb., lib 
* 821 



71-102 HELL, Canto XIV. 12i 

Thy foot in the hot sand, but to the wood 

Keep ever close." Silently on we pass'd 

To where there gushes from the forest's bound 

A .ittle brook, whose crimson'd wave yet lifts 

My hair with horror. As the rill, that runs 

From Bulicame, 1 to be portion'd out 

Among the sinful women, so ran this 

Down through the sand ; its bottom and each bank 

Stone-built, and either margin at its side, 

Whereon I straight perceived our passage lay. 

" Of all that I have shown thee, since that gate 
We enter'd first, whose threshold is to none 
Denied, naught else so worthy of regard, 
As is this river, has thine eye discern'd, 
O'er which the flaming volley all is quench'd." 

So spake my guide ; and I him thence besought. 
That having given me appetite to know, 
The food he too would give, that hunger craved. 

" In midst of ocean," forthwith he began, 
* A desolate country lies, which Crete is named : 
Under whose monarch, 2 in old times, the world 
Lived pure and chaste. A mountain rises there, 
CalPd Ida, joyous once with leaves and streams, 
Deserted now like a forbidden thing. 
It was the spot which Rhea, Saturn's spouse, 
Chose for the secret cradle of her son ; 
And better to conceal him, drown'd in shouts 
His infant cries. Within the mount, upright 
An ancient form there stands, and huge, that turns 
His shoulders towards Damiata ; and at Rome, 
As in his mirror, looks. Of finest gold 
His head 3 is shaped, pure silver are the breast 

1 Bulicame] A warm medicinal spring near Viterbo ; the 
waters of which, as Landino and Vellutelli affirm, passed by 
a place of ill fame. Venturi, with less probability, conjec- 
tures that Dante would imply that it was the scene of much 
licentious merriment among those who frequented its baths 
* Under whose monarch.] 
Credo pudicitiam Saturno rege moralam 

In terris. Juv. Satir. vi. 

fn Saturn's reign, at Nature's early b.rth, 
There was a thing call'd chastity on earth. Dryden. 
3 His head.] This is imitated by Frezzi, in the Quadriregio, 
&d. iv. cap. 14: 

La statua grande vidi in un gran piano, &c. 
'This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his 
irms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass : 
"His legs of iron, his feet pari of iron and part of clay." 

Daniel, ch. ii. 32. 33. 
11 



122 THE VISION. 103-13* 

And arms, thence to the middle is of brass, 
And downward all beneath well-temper'd steel, 
Save the right foot of potter's clay, on which 
Than on the other more erect he stands. 
E2.cn part, except the gold, is rent throughout ; 
And from the fissure tears distil, which join'd 
Penetrate to that cave. They in their course, 
Thus far precipitated down the rock, 
Form Acheron, and Styx, and Phlegethon ; 
Then by this straiten'd channel passing hence 
Beneath, e'en to the lowest depth of all, 
Form there Cocytus, of whose lake (thyself 
Shalt see it) I here give thee no account." 

Then I to him : "If from our world this sluice 
Be thus derived ; wherefore to us but now 
Appears it at this edge ?" He straight replied : 
" The place, thou know'st, is round ; and though great 
Thou have already pass'd, still to the left [pari 

Descending to the nethermost, not yet 
Hast thou the circuit made of the whole orb. 
Wherefore, if aught of new to us appear, 
It needs not bring up wonder in thy looks." 

Then I again inquired : " Where flow the stream? 
Of Phlegethon and Lethe ? for of one 
Thou tell'st not ; and the other, of that shower, 
Thou say'st, is form'd." He answer thus return'd ' 
" Doubtless thy questions all well pleased I hear. 
Yet the red seething wave 1 might have resolved 
One thou proposest. Lethe thou shalt see, 
But not within this hollow, in the place 
Whither, 2 to lave themselves, the spirits go, 
Whose blame hath been by penitence removed." 
He added : " Time is now we quit the wood. 
Look thou my steps pursue : the margin? give 
Safe passage, unimpeded by the flames ; 
For over them all vapor is extinct." 

CANTO XV. 

ARGUMENT. 

Taking their way upon one of the mounds by which tti6 
streamlet, spoken of in the last Canto, was embanked, and 
having gone so far that they could no longer have discerned 

1 The red seething wave.] This he might have known was 
Phlegethon. 
8 If hither. 1 On the other side of Purgatory 



1-28. HELL, Canto XV 123 

the forest if they had turned round to look for It, they meet 
a troop of spirits that come along the sand by the side of the 
pier. These are they who have done violence to Nature ; 
and among them Dante distinguishes Brunetto Latini, wha 
had been formerly his master ; with whom, turning a little 
backward, he holds a discourse which occupies the remain 
der of this Canto. 

One of the solid margins bears us now 
Envelop'd in the mist, that, from the stream 
Arising, hovers o'er, and saves from fire 
Both piers and water. As the Flemings rear 
Their mound, 'twixt Ghent and Bruges, to chase aach 
The ocean, fearing his tumultuous tide 
That drives toward them ; or the Paduans theirs 
Along the Brents, to defend their towns 
And castles, ere the genial warmth be felt 
On Chiarentana's 1 top ; such were the mounds, 
So framed, though not in height or bulk to these 
Made equal, by the master, whosoe'er 
He was, that raised them here. We from the wood 
Were now so far removed, that turning round 
I might not have discern'd it, when we met 
A troop of spirits, who came beside the pier. 

They each one eyed us, as at eventide 
One eyes another under a new moon ; 
And toward us sharpen'd their sight, as keen 
As an old tailor at his needle's eye. 2 

Thus narrowly explored by all the tribe, 
I was agnized of one, who by the skirt 
Caught me, and cried, " What wonder have we here V 9 

And I, when he to me outstretch'd his arm, 
Intently fix'd my ken on his parch'd looks, 
That, although smirch'd with fire, they hinder'd not 
But I remember'd him ; and towards his face 
My hand inclining, answer'd, " Ser Brunetto ! 3 

Chiarentana.] A part of the Alps where the Brenta rises; 
Which river is much swollen as soon as the snow begins to dis- 
solve on the mountains. 

2 jJs an old tailor at his needle's eye.] In Fazio degli Uber- 
ti's Dittamondo, 1. iv. cap. 4, the tailor is introduced in a siin 
ilc scarcely less picturesque : 

Perche tanto mi stringe a questo punto 
La lunga tema, ch' io fo come il sarto 
Che quando affretta spesso passa il punto. 

3 Brunetto.] " Ser Brunetto, a Florentine, the secretary 
or chancellor of the city, and Dante's preceptor, hath left 
ns a work so little read, that both the subject of it and the 
.anguage of it have been mistaken. It is in the French 
spoken in the reign of St. Louis, under the title of Tresor ; 
and contains a species of philosophical course of lecture! 



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31-32. HELL, Canto XV. 135 

Latini but a little space with thee 

Turn hack, and leave his fellows to proceed " 



Tf of art I aught could ken. 

Well behooved me use it then. 

More I look'd, the more I deem'd 

That it wild and desert seem'd. 

Not a road was there in sight, 

Not a house, and not a wight ; 

Not a bird, and not a brute, 

Not a rill, and not a root ; 

Not an emmet, not a fly, 

Not a thing I mote descry. 

Sore I doubted therewithal 

Whether death would me befall : 

Nor was wonder, for around 

Full three hundred miles of ground 

Right across on every side 

Lay the desert bare and wide 
—and proceeds on his way, under the protection of a banner 
with which Nature had furnished him, till on the third day 
he finds himself in a pleasant champain, where are assem- 
bled many emperors, kings, and sages : 
Un gran piano giocondo 
Lo piu gajo del mondo 
E lo piu degnitoso. 

Wide and far the champain lay, 

None in all the earth so gay. 
Jt is the habitation of Virtue and her daughters, the four 
Cardinal Virtues. Here Brunetto sees also Courtesy, Bounty, 
Loyalty, and Prowess, and hears the instructions they give 
to a knight, which occupy'about a fourth part of the poem. 
Leaving this territory, he passes over valleys, mountains, 
woods, forests, and bridges, till he arrives in a beautiful val- 
ley covered with flowers on all sides, and the richest in the 
world ; but which was continually shifting its appearance 
from a round figure to a square, from obscurity to light, and 
from populousness to solitude. This is the region of Pleas- 
ure, or Cupid, who is accompanied by four ladies, Love, 
Hope, Fear, and Desire. In one part of it he meets with 
Ovid, and is instructed by him how to conquer the passion 
of love, and to escape from that place. After his escape, he 
makes his confession to a friar, and then returns to the 
forest of visions ; and, ascending a mountain, meets with 
Ptolemy, a venerable old man. Here the narrative breaks 
off. The poem ends, as it began, with an address to Rustico 
di Filippo, on whom he lavishes every sort of praise. 

It has been observed, that Dante derived the idea of open- 
ing his poem by describing himself as lost in a wood, from 
the Tesoretto of his master. I know not whether it has been 
remarked, that the crime of usury is branded by both these 
poets as offensive to God and Nature :— 
Un altro, che non cura 
Di Dio ne di Natura, 
Si diventa usuriere. 
One, that holdeth not in mind 
Law of God or Nature's kind. 
Taketh him to usury. 



[26 THE VISION. 32-6f 

I thus to him replied: " Much as I cr.n, 
1 thereto pray thee ; and if thou be willing 
That I here seat me with thee, I consent ; 
His leave, with whom I journey, first obtain'd." 

" O son !" said he, "whoever of this throng 
One instant stops, lies then a hundred years, 
No fan to ventilate him, when the fire 
Smites sorest. Pass thou therefore on I clooe 
Will at thy garments walk, and then rejoin 
My troop, who go mourning their endless doom.*' 

I dared not from the path descend to tread 
On equal ground with him, but held my head 
Bent down, as one who walks in reverent guise. 

" What chance or destiny," thus he began, 
" Ere tne last day, conducts thee here below ? 
And who is this that shows to thee the way ?" 

" There up aloft," I answer'd, " in the life 
Serene, I wander* d in a valley lost, 
Before mine age 1 had to its fulness reach; d. 
But yester-morn I left it : then once more 
Into that vale returning, him I met ; 
^.nd by this path homeward he leads me back." 

" If thou," he answer'd, " follow but thy star, 
Thou canst not miss at last a glorious haven : 
Unless in fairer days my judgment err'd. 
And if my fate so early had not chanced, 
Seeing the heavens thus bounteous to thee, I 
Had gladly given thee comfort in thy work. 
But that ungratefnl and malignant race, 
Who in old times came down from Fesole, 2 

— or thai the sin for which Brunetto is condemned by hia 
pupil is mentioned in his Tesoretto with great horror. Bui 
see what is said on this subject by Perticari, Degli Scrittori 
del Trecento, 1. i. c. iv. Dante's twenty-fifth sonnet is a jo- 
cose one, addressed to Brunetto, of which a translation is in- 
serted in the Life of Dante prefixed. He died in 1295. G 
Viliani sums up his account of him by saying, that he was 
himself a worldly man ; but that he was the first to refine 
the Florentines from their grossness, and to instruct them in 
speaking properly, and in conducting the affairs of the re- 
public on principles of policy. 

1 Before mine age.] On the whole, Vellutello's expiana 
tion of this is, I think, most satisfactory. He supposes it tc 
mean, M before the appointed end of his life was arrived — 
before his days were accomplished." Lombard!, concluding 
that the fulness of age must be the same as " the midway of 
jhis our mortar life," (see Canto i. v. 1.) understands thai he 
had lost himself in the wood before that tune, and that he 
then only discovered his having gone astray. 

° Who in old times came down from Fesule.] See G. Viliani, 
t T ist., lib iv. cap. v. ; and Macchiav. Hist, of Flor., b. ii. 



63-103 HELL 4 Canto XV. 127 

Ay and stili smack of their rough mountain-flint, 

Will for thy good deeds show thee enmity. 

Xor wonder ; for among ill-savor'd crabs 

It suits not the sweet fig-tree lay her fruit. 

Old fame reports them in the world for blind, 1 

Covetous, envious, proud. Look to it well : 

Take heed thou cleanse thee of their ways. For thee, 

Thy fortune hath such honor in reserve, 

That thou by either party shalt be craved 

With hunger keen : but be the fresh herb far 

From the goat's tooth. The herd of Fesole 

.May of themselves make litter, not touch the plant, 

If any such yet spring on their rank bed, 

In which the holy seed revives, transmitted 

From those true Romans, who still there remain'd, 

When it was made the nest of so much ill." 

" Were all my wish fulnlPd," I straight replied, 
" Thou from the confines of man's nature yet 
Hadst not been driven forth ; for in my mind 
Is fix'd, and now strikes full upon my heart, 
The dear, benign, paternal image, such 
As thine was, when so lately thou didst teach me 
The way for man to win eternity : 
And how I prized the lesson, it behooves, 
That, long as life endures, my tongue should speak 
What of my fate thou tell'st, that write I down ; 
And, with another text 2 to comment on, 
For her I keep it, the celestial dame, 
Who will know all, if I to her arrive. 
This only would I have thee clearly note : 
That, so my conscience have no plea against me, 
Do fortune as she list, I stand prepared. 
Not new or strange such earnest to mine ear. 
Speed Fortune then her wheel, as likes her best ; 
The clown his mattock ; all things have their course n 

Thereat my sapient guide upon his right 
Turn'd himself back, then look'd at me, and spake 
11 He listens to good purpose who takes note.'' 

I not the less still on my way proceed, 
Discoursing with Brunetto, and inquire 
Who are most known and chief among his tribe. 

i Blind.'] It is said that the Florentines were thus called, 
in consequence of their having been deceived by a shallot 
artifice practised on them by the Pisans, in the year 1117 
See G. Villani, lib. iv. cap. xxx. 

a With another text.] He refers to the prediction of Fafi: 
aata, in Canto x. 



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1-33. HELL, Caxto XVI. 129 



CANTO XVI 

ARGUMENT. 

Journeying along the pier, which crosses the sand, they are 
now so near the end of it as to hear the noise of the 
stream falling into the eighth circle, when they meet thi 
spirits of three military men , who judging Dante, froiH 
his dress, to be a countryman of theirs, entreat him to 
stop. He complies, and speaks with them. The two 
Poets then reach the place where the water descends, 
being the termination of this third compartment in the 
seventh circle; and here Virgil having thrown down into 
the hollow a cord, wherewith Dante was girt, they be- 
hold at that signal a monstrous and horrible figure come 
swimming up to them. 

Now came I where the water's din was heard, 
As down it fell into the other round, 
Resounding like the hum of swarming bees : 
When forth together issued from a troop, 
That pass'd beneath the fierce tormenting storm, 
Three spirits, running swift. They towards us came 
And each one cried aloud, " Oh ! do thou sta^, 
Whom, by the fashion of thy garb, we deem 
To be some inmate of our evil land." 

Ah me ! what wounds I mark'd upon their limb% 
Recent and old, inflicted by the flames ! 
E'en the remembrance of them grieves me yet. 

Attentive to their cry, my teacher paused, 
And turn'd to me his visage, and then spake : 
" Wait now : our courtesy these merit well : 
And were "t not for the nature of the place, 
Whence glide the fiery darts, I should have said, 
That haste had better suited thee than them." 

They, when we stopp'd, resumed their ancient w ail 
And, soon as they had reach'd us, all the three 
Whirl'd round together in one restless wheel. 
As niked champions, smear'd with slippery oil, 
Are wont, intent, to watch their place of hold 
And vantage, ere in closer strife they meet ; 
Thus each one, as he wheel'd, his countenance 
At me directed, so that opposite 
The neck moved ever to the twinkling feet. 

" If wo of this unsound and dreary waste," 
Thus one began, " added to our sad cheer 
Thus peel'd with flame, do call forth scorn on us 
And our entreaties, let our great renown 
Incline thee to inform us who thou art, 
That dost imprint, with living feet unharm'd, 



130 THE VISION. 34-4 

The .-: ::" He'd. He. ~n whose trac£. tl ou seest 
Bfy steps pmsaing, naked though he be 

An :--:: ;;" id, vra.5 :: :::::e Li^d es:a:e 
Than thou belie vest ; grandchild of the chaste 

G--:."i:-. : i. : :: r: :d-v Guidon: err a cad'd. 

ttd:; - :.- dee—e rury -, ~ : Ve :,c: : 

A cdd e v r d . :■•: : d : y 1: is vr _s : : ::: and dds s ~ : : d. 



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er of whom was father of 
lit skill and prowess ; who, 
ntines of the Goelph party, 

•■■.:: r; :'. -..-.-.-ei .-.: E e:. e 
Maiifredi, King of Naples, 

t5 ::' -.';■..$ v. ::;.-/ v.-;,.s' :':.r 
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found in G. YillanL lib- t. 
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4-2-77. HELL, Canto XVI. 131 

Is Aldobrandi, 1 name deserving well, 
In the upper world, of honor ; and myself, 
Who in this torment do partake with them, 
Am Rusticucci, 2 whom, past doubt, my wife. 
Of savage temper, more than aught beside 
Hath to this evil bi ought." If from the fire 
I had been shelter'd, down amidst them straight 
I then had cast me ; nor my guide, I deem, 
Would have restrain'd my going: but that fear 
Of the dire burning vanquish'd the desire, 
Which made me eager of their wish'd embrace. 

I then began : " Not scorn, but grief much more 
Such as long time alone can cure, your doom 
Fix'd deep within me, soon as this my lord 
Spake words, whose tenor taught me to expect 
That such a race, as ye are, was at hand. 
I am a countryman of yours, who still 
Affectionate have utterd, and have heard 
Your deeds and names renown'd. Leaving the ga 1 a 
For the sweet fruit I go, that a sure guide 
Hath promised to me. But behooves, that far 
As to the centre first I downward tend." 

" So may long space thy spirit guide thy limbs," 
He answer straight return'd ; " and so thy fame 
Shine bright when thou art gone, as thou shalt tell, 
If courtesy and valor, as they wont, 
Dwell in our city, or have vanish'd clean : 
For one amidst us late condemird to wail. 
Borsiere, 3 yonder walking with his peers, 
Grieves us no little by the news he brings." 

" An upstart multitude and sudden gains, 
Pride and excess, O Florence ! have in thee 
Lngender'd, so that now in tears thou mourn'st !" 

Thus cried I, with my face upraised, and they 
All three, who for an answer took my words, 
Look'd at each other, as men look when truth 

1 Aldobrandi.'] Tegghiaio Aldobrandi was of the noble 
family of Adimari, and much esteemed for his military talents. 
He endeavored to dissuade the Florentines from the attack 
which they meditated against the Siennese ; and the rejec- 
tion of his counsel occasioned the memorable defeat which 
the former sustained at Montaperto, and the consequent ban- 
ishment of the Guelfi from Florence. 

2 Rusticucci.] Giacopo Rusticucci, a Florentine, remark 
able for his opulence and the generosity of his spirit. 

3 Borsiere.) Guglielmo Borsiere, another Florentine, whom 
Boccaccio, in a story which he relates of him, terms " a map 
of courteous and elegant manners, and of great readiness ia 
•onversatkm." Dec. Giorn., i. Nov. 8. 



132 THE VISION. 38 -.;:• 

Comes to their ear. " If at so littie cost." 1 
They all at once rejoin'd. " thou satisfy 
Others who question thee, O happy thou ' 
Gifted with words so apt to speak thy thought. 
Wherefore, if thou escape this darksome clime 
Returning to behold the radiant stars, 
When thou with pleasure shalt retrace the past, 2 
See that of us thou speak among mankind.'' 

This said, they broke the circle, and so s 
Fled, that as pinions seem'd their nimble feet. 

1 1 : t in so short a time might one have said 
•' Amen," as they had vanish'd. Straight my guide 
Pursued his track. I follow'd : and small space 
Had we pass'd onward, when the water's sound 

now so near at hand, that we had scarce 
Heard one another's speech for the loud din. . 

E'en as the river, 3 that first holds its : 
Unmingled, from the Mount of Vesulo, 
On the left side of Apennine, toward 
The east, which Acquacheta higher up 
They call, ere it descend into the vale, 
At Forli. 4 by that name no longer known, 
Rebellows o'er Saint Benedict, rolPd on 
From the Alpine summit down a precipice, 
Where space 5 enough to lodge a thousand spreads ; 
Thus downward from a craggy steep we found 



1 At so little cost.] They intimate to our Poet (as Lom- 
bardiweli observes) the inconveniences to which his freedom 
of speech was abotit to expose him in the furore course of 
his life. 

2 When thou with pleasure shalt retrace the past.} 

Quando ti giovera dicere io fui. 
So Tasso, G. L., c. xv. st 38: 

Quando mi giovera narrar altrui 

Le novita vedute, e dire ; io fui. 
* E'en os the river.] He compares the fall of Phler-E :.'.::. 
to that of the Montone (a river in Roniagna) from the Apen 
sine above the Abbey of St. Benedict. All the other streams, 
that rise between the" sources of the Po and the Montone, and 
fall from the left side of the Apennine, join the Po, and ac- 
company it to the sea. 

4 At Forli.] Because there it loses the name of Acqna 
iheta, and takes that of Montone. 

5 Where space.] Either because the abbey was capable of 
containing mure than those who occupied it, or because (says 
Landino) the lords of that territory, as Boccaccio related on 
the authority of the abbot, had intended to build a castle near 
the water-fall, and to collect within its walls the populauo* 
\f the neighboring villages 



104-124. HELL, Canto XVI. 133 

That this dark wave resounded, roaring loud, 
So that the ear its clamor soon had stunn'd. 

I had a cord 1 that braced my girdle round, 
Wherewith I erst had thought fast bound to take 
The painted leopard. This when I had all 
Unloosen'd from me (so my master bade) 
I gather'd up, and stretch'd it forth to him. 
Then to the right he turn'd, and from the brink 
Standing few paces distant, cast it down 
Into the deep abyss. " And somewhat strange/' 
Thus to myself I spake, "signal so strange 
Betokens, which my guide with earnest eye 
1 hus follows." Ah ! what caution must men use 
With those who look not at the deed alone, 
But spy into the thoughts with subtle skill. 2 

" Quickly shall come," he said, " what I expect : 
Thine eye discover quickly that, whereof 
Thy thought is dreaming." Ever to that truth, 3 
Which but the semblance of a falsehood wears, 
A man, if possible, should bar his lip ; 
Since, although blameless, he incurs reproach. 



1 A cord.] This passage, as it is confessed by Landino, 
involves a fiction, sufficiently obscure. His own attempt to 
unravel it does not much lessen the difficulty. That which 
Lombardi has made is something better. It is believed that 
our Poet, in the earlier part of his life, had entered into the 
order of St. Francis. By observing the rules of that profes- 
sion, he had designed to mortify his carnal appeiiies, or, as 
he expresses it, " to take the painted leopard" (that animal, 
which, as we have seen in a note to the first Canto, repre- 
sented Pleasure) "with this cord." This part of the habit he 
is now desired by Virgil to take off; and it is thrown down 
the gulf, to allure Geryon to them with the expectation of 
carrying down one who had cloaked his iniquities under the 
garb of penitence and self-mortification ; and thus (to apply 
to Dante on this occasion the words of Milton) 

He, as Franciscan, thought to pass disguised 

2 But spy into the thoughts with subtle skid.] 

Sorrise Uranio, che per entro vede 
Gli altrui pensier col senno. 

Menzini. Sonctto. Mentre io dormia, 

3 Ever to that truth.] This memorable apophthegm is re 
peated by Luigi Pulci and Trissino : 

Sempre a quel ver, ch' ha faccia di menzogna, 
E piii senno tacer la lingua cheta, 
Che spesso senza colpa fa vergogna. 

Morgante Magg., c. xxiv, 
La verita, che par mensogna, 
Si dovrebbe tacer dall' uom ch' e saggio. 
1 o Italia Lib., c. xvi- 



134 THE VISION. 123-13» 

But silence here were vain ; and by these notes, 1 

Which now I sing, reader, I swear to thee, 

So may they favor find to latest times ! 

That through the gross and murky air I spied 

A shape come swimming up, that might have quell'd 

The stoutest heart with wonder ; in such guise, 

As one returns, who hath been down to loose 

An anchor grappled fast against some rock, 

Or to aught else that in the salt wave lies, 

Who, upward springing, close draws in his feet 

CANTO XVII. 

ARGUMENT. 
The monster Geryon is described; to whom while Virgil is 
speaking in order that he may carry them both down to 
the next circle, Dante, by permission, goes a little farther 
along the edge of the void, to descry the third species of 
sinners contained in this compartment, namely, those who 
have done violence to Art ; and then returning to his mas- 
ter, they both descend, seated on the back of Geryon. 

" Lo ! the fell monster 2 with the deadly sting, 
Who passes mountains, breaks through fenced walls 
And firm embattled spears, and with his filth 
Taints all the world." Thus me my guide address'd, 
And beckon'd him, that he should come to shore, 
Near to the stony causeway's utmost edge. 

Forthwith that image vile of Fraud appear d, 
His head and upper part exposed on land, 
But laid not on the shore his bestial train. 
His face the semblance of a just man's wore, 
So kind and gracious was its outward cheer ; 
The rest was serpent all : two shaggy claws 
Reach'd to the arm-pits ; and the back and breast, 
And either side, were painted o'er with nodes 
And orbits. Colors variegated more 
Nor Turks nor Tartars e'er on cloth of state 
With interchangeable embroidery wove, 

1 By these notes.] So Frezzi : 

Per queste rime mie, lettor, ti giuro. 

11 Quadrir., lib. iii. cap. 19 
In like manner, Pindar confirms his veracity by an oath: 
Nat fjiu yap "OpKov i iptav Sd^av. 
JVem., xi. 30. 
vhich is imitated, as usual, by Chiabrera : 
Ed io lungo il Permesso 
Sacro alle Muse obligherb mia fede. 

Canz. Erioche, xliii. 75* 
The fell monster.} Fraud- 



!«-57 HELL, Canto XVII. 135 

Nor spread Arachne o'er her curious loom. 
As oft-times a light skiff, moor'd to the shore, 
Stands part in water, part upon the land ; 
Or, as where dwells the greedy German boor, 
The beaver settles, watching for his prey ; 
So on the rim, that fenced the sand with rock, 
Sat perch'd the fiend of evil. In the void 
Glancing, his tail upturn'd its venomous fork, 
With sting like scorpion's arm'd. Then thus my 

guide : 
u Now need our way must turn few steps apart, 
Far as to that ill beast, who couches there." 

Thereat, toward the right our downward course 
We shaped, and, better to escape the flame 
And burning marl, ten paces on the verge 
Proceeded. Soon as we to him arrive, 
A little farther on mine eye beholds 
A tribe of spirits, seated on the sand 
Near to the void. Forthwith my master spake : 
" That to the full thy knowledge may extend 
Of all this round contains, go now, and mark 
The mien these wear : but hold not long discourse. 
Till thou returnest, I with him meantime 
Will parley, that to us he may vouchsafe 
The aid of his strong shoulders." Thus alone, 
Yet forward on the extremity I paced 
Of that seventh circle, where the mournful tribe 
Were seated. At the eyes forth gush'd their pang* 
Against the vapors and the torrid soil 
Alternately their shifting hands they plied. 
Thus use the dogs in summer still to ply 
Their jaws and feet by turns, when bitten sore 
By gnats, or flies, or gadflies swarming round. 

Noting the visages of some, who lay 
Beneath the pelting of that dolorous fire, 
One of them all I knew not ; but perceived, 
That pendent from his neck each bore a pouch 1 
With colors and with emblems various mark'd, 
On which it seem'd as if their eye did feed. 

And when, among them, looking round I came, 
A yellow purse 2 I saw with azure wrought, 

1 A pouch. J A purse, whereon the armorial bearings of 
each were emblazoned. According to Landino, our poel 
implies that the usurer can pretend to no other honor than 
such as he derives from his purse and his family. The de- 
scription of persons by their heraldic insignia is remarkable 
both on the present and several other occasions in this poem 

2 A yellow purse .' The arms of the Gianfigliazzi of Florence 



13 3 THE VIS! S*^* 



Ar.j:hrr I : riieii. ::::-.r. biz : : nzre red. 
A gz-ese zls'zz.iv :; ~z..r.rZ ~zzr_g ::.:.:.:. : 
ArLi :-e. --■; L -- i :;: -i Li-'e 5- — 
P.:— - :- L., -j„- ,;: ; -dz .-.-.-. 



'.V 



- „ . . 



A Pill- ~- :hr*r Fiz r~:±rS l~ I. 

Ofr-tiiiies :_ey Lzz/zzniz-z- izi ihnze ri:-, e:zzi:.:v. zz : 
1 h ! b as : b : b : : m : I e k ni rht.* he who the pouch 



' Wi:h :Le zdirz-e r:-, s -- "1 bri^r.' " Tins -..1. La 



Tii-z- zLQi'h. :...:.i izL'd :he ::zLr"z;e zzzz. Lbze izz. ::" 

Tizez L:ks Lis zzzzsz:zis. I. ies: ioz-p: 

He ill might brook, who hade me stay not long, 

Bi:k-~ird 11:7 szezzs zzrzizz: :iiz.-se sid spirits rirzzdzL 
i : guide already seated on the haunch 

O: :ie~zber:e izizizzzii I :': - i : -d :L^> 
Hr zzzze f:::-;^:. ■■ Be :Lzz: s::u:: be boil 
Pz—zz. s j. : L. zi szeep zzbzL;L: zz/.v.s: — e zz :~ zzes-zeni 
Mzzize: :ii;-: b-eii'e : ::"r. :Li: zz: : z~ e: riie :ziL 
Miv -it- :: i-ir::: :Lee. I ~Li Le z" ±' —is:.." 

His LiLV'— elif Ire i™"V"":L-V .":":-."?.":"V 
Q-r-s eii Lz-r'zb he ':;.-.: e 7 e :i- s" 7 ?.zie : 






:■:-■■ Lis :n Vo.zv?;.c': 



btf-127. HELL, Canto XVII. 1ST 

The servant bold in presence of his lord 

I settled me upon those shoulders huge, 
And would have said, but that the words to aid 
My purpose came not, •'•' Look thou clasp me fin a ' 

But he whose succor then not first I proved. 
Soon as I mounted, in his arms aloft, 
Embracing, held me up ; and thus he spake : 
• ; Geryon ! now move thee : be thy wheeling gyres 
Of ample circuit, easy thy descent. 
Think on the unusual burden thou sustain'st " 

As a small vessel, backening out from land, 
Her station quits ; so thence the monster loosed, 
And, when he felt himself at large, turn'd round 
There, where the breast had been, his forked tail. 
Thus, like an eel, outstretclrd at length he steer'd, 
Gathering the air up with retractile claws. 

Xot greater was the dread, when Phaeton 
The reins let drop at random, whence high heaven, 
Whereof signs yet appear, was wrapt in flames ; 
Nor when ill-fated Icarus perceived, 
By liquefaction of the scalded wax, 
The trusted pennons loosen'd from his loins, 
His sire exclaiming loud, " 111 way thou keep'st," 
Than was my dread, when round me on each part 
The air I view'd, and other object none 
Save the fell beast. He, slowly sailing, wheels 
His downward motion, unobserved of me, 
But that the wind, arising to my face, 
Breathes on me from below. Now on our right 
I heard the cataract beneath us leap [plore, 

With hideous crash ; whence bending down to ex- 
Xew terror I conceived at the steep plunge ; 
For flames I saw, and wailings smote mine ear : 
So that, all trembling, close I crouclrd my limbs, 
And then distinguished, unperceked before, 
By the dread torments that on every side 
Drew nearer, how our downward course we wound. 

As falcon, that hath long been on the wing, 
But lure nor bird hath seen, while in despair 
The falconer cries, " Ah me ! thou stoop'st to earth," 
Wearied descends, whence nimbly he arose 
In many an airy wheel, and lighting sits 

Ma vergogna mi fe le sue minacce , 
which appears preferable to the common one, 

Ma vergogna mi fer, &c. 
It is necessary that I should observe this, because t has 
»>een imputed to me as a mistake. 



13S THE VISION. 128-182 

At distance from his lord in angry mood ; 
So Geryon lighting places us on foot 
Low down at base of the deep-furrow'd rock, 
And, of his burden there discharged, forthwith 
Sprang forward, like an arrow from the string 



CANTO XVIII. 



ARGUMENT. 

The Poet describes the situation and form of the eighth circle 
divided into ten gulfs, which contain as many different de- 
scriptions of fraudulent sinners ; but in the present Cant^ 
he treats only of two sorts : the first is of those who, either 
for their own pleasure, or for that of another, have seduced 
any woman from her duty ; and these are scourged of 
demons in the first gulf: the other sort is of flatterers, who 
in the second gulf are condemned to remain immersed in 
filth. 

There is a place within the depths of hell 
CalPd Malebolge, all of rock dark-stain'd 
With hue ferruginous, e'en as the steep 
That round it circling winds. Right in the midst 
Of that abominable region yawns 
A spacious gulf profound, whereof the frame 
Due time shall tell. The circle, that remains, 
Throughout its round, between the gulf and base 
Of the high craggy banks, successive forms 
Ten bastions, in its hollow bottom raised. 

As where, to guard the walls, full many a foss 
Begirds some stately castle, surs defence 1 
Affording to the space within ; so here 
Were modell'd these : and as like fortresses, 

* Sure defence.] La parte dov' e' son rendon sicura. 
This is the common reading ; besides which there are two 
others : 

La parte dove il sol rende figura ; 
and, 

La parte dov' ei son rende figura : 
the former of which two, Lombardi says, is found in Daniello's 
edition, printed at Venice, 1568 ; in that printed in the same 
city with the commentaries of Landino and Vellutello, 1572 ; 
and also in some MSS. The latter, which has very much the 
appearance of being genuine, was adopted by Lombardi him- 
self, on the authority of a text supposed to be in the hand 
writing of Filippo Villani, but so defaced by the alterations 
made in it by some less skilful hand, that the. traces of the 
old ink were with difficulty recovered ; and it has, since the 
publication of Lombardi's edition, been met with also in the 
Monte Cassino MS. 

Mon ti is decided in favor of Lombardi's reading, and Biagioii 
opposed to it 



15-46. HELL, Canto XVIII. 130 

E'en from their threshold to the brink without, 
Are flank'd with bridges ; from the rock's low bast 
Thus flinty paths advanced, that 'cross the moles 
And dikes struck onward far as to the gulf, 
That in one bound collected cuts them off. 
Such was the place, wherein we found ourselves 
From Geryon's back dislodged. The bard to left 
Held on his way, and I behind him moved. 

On our right hand new misery I saw, 
New pains, new executioners of wrath, 
That swarming peopled the first chasm. Below 
Were naked siuners. Hitherward they came, 
Meeting our faces, from the middle point , 
With us beyond. 1 but with a larger stride. 
E'en thus the Romans, 2 when the year returns 
Of Jubilee, with better speed to rid 
The thronging multitudes, their means devise 
For such as pass the bridge ; that on one side 
All front toward the castle, and approach 
Saint Peter's fane, on the other towards the moiuit 

Each diverse way, along the grisly rock, 
Horn'd demons I beheld, with lashes huge, 
That on their back unmercifully smote. 
Ah ! how they made them bound at the first stripe * 
None for the second waited, nor the third. 

Meantime, as on I passed, one met my sight, 
Whom soon as view'd, " Of him,'' cried I, " not yet 
Mine eye hath had his fill." I therefore stay'd 3 
My feet to scan him, and the teacher kind 
Paused with me, and consented I should walk 
Backward a space ; and the tormented spirit, 
Who thought to hide him, bent his visage down. 

i With us beyond.] Beyond the middle point they tended 
the same way with us," but their pace was quicker than 
ours 

a E'en thus the Romans.] In the year 1300, Pope Boniface 
VIII., to remedy the inconvenience occasioned by the press 
of people who were passing over the bridge of St. Angelo 
during the time of the Jubilee, caused it to be divided length- 
wise by a partition ; and ordered, that all those who were 
going to St. Peter's should keep one side, and those returning 
the other. G. Villani, who was present, describes the order 
that was preserved, lib. vUi. cap. 36. It was at this time, and 
on this occasion, as the honest historian tells us, that he first 
conceived the design of" compiling his book." 

3 / therefore stay'd.] " I piedi affissi" is the reading of the 
Nidobeatina edition ; but Lombard! is under an error, when 
he tells us that the other editions have "gii occhi aftissi ;" 
fcr Vell-utello's, at least, printed in 1514, agrees with the 
Nidobeatina. 



140 TirE VISION. 47-81 

Bid if JmriPd him naught : for I exemmm : 

■• Thou vrho dost i:n tpe upm me ground, 

Unless thy features do belie :.0: much. 

; n or: mm. Eo: vrha: brings too- 3 

But thy cle ai speech,, that to my mind recalls 
The world I once inhabited, constrains me. 

Know then 'tvros I who led fair Ghisola 
To do the Marquis* will, howeveT fame 
Tne moment! tale have bruited. Nor alone, 
Be I : gna hither sendeth me to mourn. 
Rotor ::li os tbe place is so o'erthiongfd, 
Thai not se many tongues this day are taught, 
Betwixt toe Reno end Soveno's stream. 
To answei Si pa 2, in their countnrs phrase. 
An i if of that securer proof thou need, 
Remember but our craving thirst for gold." 
Him speokmr tints, o iooo; with ins tb 
Struck and exclaimbd. " Away, trrupter! her© 
Women ore mne tor sole.' Fortluvim I 
My escort, and few paces thence turn 
To where a rock forth issued from the bank. 
Thai em emended, to the right 
TTimwi its Winter tiimincr. wft d™»rt 



Tne snrrni sntls : •■ Pause here." tb: teocnei mo. 
" And lot these others noisrrt le mm 






For t 

Fr- 

Exn 
Bv nt 



: T'r. -::'.::'_ Ye:;e;h:: Ch-m.-.:: n n :■.£■; : :n ■■' 
prevailed on his sistei Gin-sola ti prostitute herself to Obizzo 
da Em. Rfaiqais of Ferrara, whom we have seen among the 
tyrants, Canto xii. 

: >;:i:':;v-l Silse. linn:. ::: his r:mm:i ■■'.'.- rr.::: 

£ e : ¥ : nuto da Imola, takes this to be the name of a place. It 

fa kvb been intended on the word, which ean- 

- T: c ;>::: -S::'b Hf hfiinr? B:0:r: by : 
ieTween ;ne rivers Seven?, r im : ee.m .h ' Relh. r :::•: w^: 
5>f that city ; and by a peculiarity of dialcst, the use of the 

-:0:n\'.-n «:;--_:: mem mi: ::",*:' :: :-.s no.: v.... mm ... 
if sia> 



B1-I22. HELL, Canto XVIII. HI 

11 Behold that lofty shade, who this way tends, 

And seems too wo-begone to drop a tear. 

How yet the regal aspect he retains ! 

Jason is he, whose skill and prowess won 

The ram from Colchus. To the Lemnian isle 

His passage thither led him, when those bold 

And pitiless women had slain all their males. 

There he with tokens and fair witching words 

Hypsipyle 1 beguiled, a virgin young, 

Who first had all the rest herself beguiled 

Impregnated, he left her there forlorn. 

Such is the guilt condemns him to this pain. 

Here too Medea's injuries are avenged. 

All bear him company, who like deceit 

To his have practised. And thus much to know 

Of the first vale suffice thee, and of those 

Whom its keen torments urge." Now T had we come 

Where, crossing the next pier, the straiten'd path 

Bestrides its shoulders to another arch. 

Hence, in the second chasm we heard the ghosts, 
Who gibber in low melancholy sounds, 
With wide-stretch'd nostrils snort, and on themselves 
Smite with their palms. Upon the banks a scurf, 
From the foul steam condensed, encrusting hung, 
That held sharp combat with the sight and smell. 

So hollow is the depth, that from no part, 
Save on the summit of the rocky span, 
Could I distinguish aught. Thus far we came : 
And thence I saw, within the foss below, 
A crowd immersed in ordure, that appealed 
Draff of the human body. There beneath 
Searching with eye inquisitive, I mark'd 
One with his head so grimed, 'twere hard to deem 
If he were clerk or layman. Loud he cried : 
" Why greedily thus bendest more on me, 
Than on these other filthy ones, thy ken?" 

" Because, if true my memory 4 " I replied, 
' I heretofore have seen thee with dry locks ; 
And thou Alessio 2 art, of Lucca sprung. 
Therefore than all the rest I scan thee more." 

Then beating on his brain, these words he spake : 



1 Hypsipyle.] See Apollonius Rhodius, 1. i., and Valerius 
Flaccus, 1. ii. Hypsipyle deceived the other women, by con 
cealing her father Thoas, when they had agreed to put all 
their males to death. 

* Alessio.] Alessio, of an ancient and considerable familV 
'n Lucca, called the Interminei 



1^3 THE VISION 123-133 

" Me thus low down my flatteries have sunk. 
Wherewith I ne'er enough could glut my tongue* 1 

My leader thus : "A little farther stietch 
Thy face, that thou the visage well inay'st note 
Oi that besotted, sluttish courtesan. 
Who there doth rend her with defiled nails. 
Xow crouching down, now risen on her feet. 
Thais 1 is this, the harlot, whose false lip 
Answer'd her doting paramour that ask'd, 
' Thankcst me much !' — •' Say rather, wondrousl}-.' 
And. seeing this, here satiate be our view.'" 

* CAXTO XIX 



ARGUMENT. 

Fhey come t: the third gali r» punished thoss 

a Irf:; guilty :: simony. These are fixed with 

the head dc " f-rrures. so that no more 

of them than the legs appeal without, and on the st 
their feet are seen mining flames. Dante is : :en down 
by his guide mte the ittom of the gulf; and there finds 
Pope Nicholas the Fifth, whose evil deeds, together with 
these of other pontiffs, are bitterly reprehend*?'!, 
then c rries hi gain : the arch, which aflords theoa 

a passage over the following gulf. 

Wo to thee. Simon Magus ! wo to you. 
His wretched followers '. who the things of Goo 1 . 
Which should be wedded onto goodness, then . 
Rapacious as ye are. do prostitute 
For gold and silver in adultery. 
Xow must the trumpet sound for you. since yours 
Is the third chasm. Upon the following vault 
We now had mounted., where the rock hup e 
Directly o'er the centre of the foss. 

Wisdom Supreme . how wonderful the art. 
Which thou dost manifest in heaven, in earth. 
And in the evil world, how just a meed 
Allotting by thy virtue unto all. 

I saw the livid stone, throughout the sides 
And hi its bottom full of apertures, 
All equal in their width, and circular each. 
Nor ample less nor larger they appear'd 

1 Huns.] He alludes to thai passage in the Ennnchus oi 
Terence, where Thraso asks if Thais was obliged to him foi 
the present he had sent her : and Gnatho replies, that she 
Uad expressed her obligation in the most forcible terms. 

T. Masnas vero agere gratias Thais mini ? 

Q. Ingente? Eun.. a. in. a. 1 



/S-52 HfcLL, Casto XIX. 143 

Than, in St. John's fair dome 1 of me beloved, 

Those framed to hold the pure baptismal streams. 

One of the which I brake, some few years past. 

To save a whelming infant : and be this 

A seal to undeceive whoever doubts 

The motive of my deed. From out the mouth 

Of every one emerged a sinner's feet, 

And of "the legs high upward as the calf. 

The rest beneath was hid. On either foot 

The soles were burning ; whence the flexile joints 

G ] aiiced with such violent motion, as had snapp'd 

Asunder cords or twisted withs. As flame, 

Feeding 1 on unctuous matter, glides along 

The surface, scarcely touching where it moves : 

So here, from heel to point, glided the flames. 

•• Master ! say who is he, than all the rest 
Glancing in fiercer agony, on whom 
A ruddier flame doth prey ?" I thus inquired. 

" If thou be willing,'' he replied, " that I 
Carry thee down, where least the slope bank falls, 
He of himself shall tell thee, and his wrongs." 

I then: " As pleases thee, to me is best. 
Thou art my lord: and know'st that ne'er I quit 
Thy will: what silence hides, that knowest thou.'' 

Thereat on the fourth pier we came, we turn'd, 
And on our left descended to the depth, 
A narrow strait, and perforated close. 
Nor from his side my leader set me down, 
Till to his orifice he brought, whose limb 
Quivering express'd his pang. " Whoe'er thou art, 
Sad spirit ! thus reversed, and as a stake 
Driven in the soil," I in these words began ; 
" If thou be able, utter forth thy voice." 

There stood I like the friar, that doth shrive 
A wretch for murder doom'd, who, e'en when fix'd, 3 



1 Saint John's fair dome.'] The apertures in the rock were 
of the same dimensions as the fonts of St. John the Baptist 
at Florence ; one of which, Dante says, he bad broken, to 
rescue a child that was playing near and fell in. He inti- 
mates, that the motive of his breaking the font had been ma- 
liciously represented by his enemies. 

2 When fix d.~\ The commentators on Boccaccio's Decame- 
ron, p. 72, ediz. Giunti, 1573, cite the words of the statute by 
which murderers were sentenced thus to suffer at Florence. 
" Assassinus trahatur ad caudam muli seu asini usque ad lo- 
cum justifies ; et ibidem plantetur, capite deorsum, ita quod 
moriatur." " Let the assassin be dragged at the tail of a 
mule or ass to the place of justice ; and there let him be seJ 
In the ground with his face downward, so that he die " 



144 THE VISICM. 53-€S. 

Calleth him back, whence death awhile delays, 

He shouted : " Ha ! already standest there? 
Already standest there, O Boniface I 1 
By many a year the writing play'd me false. 
So early dost thou surfeit with the wealth, 
For which thou fearedst not in guile 2 to take 
The lovely lady, and then mangle her?" 

I felt as those who, piercing not the drift 
Of answer made them, stand as if exposed 
In mockery, nor know what to reply ; 
When Virgil thus admonish'd : " Tell him quick, 
' I am not he, not he whom thou believest.' " 

And I, as was enjoin'd me, straight replied. 

That heard, the spirit all did wrench his feet, 
And, sighing, next in wofui accent spake : 
" What then of me requirest? If to know 
So much imports thee, who I am, that thou 
Hast therefore down the bank descended, lean! 
That in the mighty mantle I was robed, 3 
And of a she-bear was indeed the son, 
So eager to advance my whelps, that there 
My having in my purse above I stow'd, 
And here myself. Under my head are dragg'd 
The rest, my predecessors in the guilt 
Of simony. Stretch'd at their length, they lie 
Along an opening in the rock. Midst them 
I also low shall fall, soon as he comes, 
For whom I took thee, when so hastily 
I question' d. But already longer time 
Hath pass'd, since my soles kindled, and I thus 
Upturn'd have stood, than is his doom to stand 
Planted with fiery feet, for after him, 
One yet of deeds more ugly shall arrive, 
From forth the west, a shepherd without law, 4 



i O Boniface !] The spirit mistakes Dante for Boniface 
VIII. who was then alive ; and who he did not expect would 
have arrived so soon, in consequence, as it should seem, of a 
prophecy, which predicted the death of that pope at a late? 
period. Boniface died in 1303. 

2 In guile] " Thou didst presume to aurive by fraudulent 
means at the papal power, and afterwards to abuse it." 

3 In the mighty mantle I was robed.'] Nicholas III. of the 
Orsini family, whom the Poet therefore calls " figliuol deli' 
orsa," "son of the she-bear." He died in 1281. 

4 From forth the west, a shepherd without law.] Bertrand 
de Got, Archbishop of Bordeaux, who succeeded to the ponti- 
ficate in 1305s and assumed the title of Clement V. He trans- 
ferred the holy see to Avignon in 1308, (where it remained 
till 1376,) and died in 1314 



87-109. HELL, Canto XIX 145 

Fated to cover both his form and mine. 
He a new Jason 1 shall be call'd, of whom 
In Maccabees we read ; and favor such 
As to that priest his king indulgent show'd, 
Shall be of France's monarch 2 shown to him." 

I know not if I here too far presumed, 
But in this strain I answer'd: " Tell me now, 
What treasures from St. Peter at the first 
Our Lord demanded, when he put the keys 
Into his charge l Surely he ask' d no more 
But '■ Follow me !' Nor Peter, 3 nor the rest, 
Or gold or silver of Matthias took, 
When lots were cast upon the forfeit place 
Of the condemned soul. 4 Abide thou then ; 
Thy punishment of right is merited : 
And look thou well to that ill-gotten coin, 
Which against Charles 5 thy hardihood inspired. 
If reverence of the keys restrain'd me not, 
Which thou in happier times didst hold, I yet 
Severer speech might use. Your avarice 
O'ercasts the world with mourning, under foot 6 
Treading the good, and raising bad men up. 
Of shepherds like to you, the Evangelist 7 

1 A new Jason.] " But after the death of Seleucus, when 
Antiochus, called Epiphanes, took the kingdom, Jason, the 
brother of Onias, labored underhand to be high-priest, prom- 
ising unto the king, by intercession, three hundred and three- 
score talents of silver, and of another revenue eighty talents.' 
J\Iaccab., b. ii. ch. iv. 7, 8. 

2 Of France's monarch.} Philip IV. of France. See G 
Villani, lib. viii. c. lxxx. 

a JVor Peter. J Acts of the Apostles, ch. i. 26. 

4 The condemned soul.] Judas. 

5 Against Charles.] Nicholas III. was enraged, against 
Charles I. King of Sicily, because he rejected with scorn a 
proposition made by that pope for an alliance between their 
families. See G. Villani, Hist., lib. vii. c. liv. 

c Under foot. m 

So shall the world go on, 

To good malignant, to bad men benign. 

Milton, P. L., b. rii. 538. 
' The Evangelist.] Rev. c- xvii. 1, 2, 3.— Petrarch, in one 
of his Epistles, had his eye on these lines : " Gaude (ijiquam) 
et ad aliquid utilis inventa gloriare bonorum hostis et malorum 
hospes, atque asylum pessima rerum Babylon feris, Rhodani 
ripis imposita, famosa dicam an infamis meretrix, fornicata cum 
regibus terra. Ilia equidem ipsa es quam in spiritu sacer 
vidit Evangelista. Ilia eadem, inquam, es, non alia, sedens 
super aquas multas, sive ad littora tribus cincta fiuminibus sive 
return atque divitiarum turba mortalium quibus lasciviens ac 
secura insides opum immemor aternannn sive ut idem qui vidit, 
S2po8uit. Populi et gentes et lingua? a qua: sunt, super quas 
13 



Hfi the u.-::<> ...j -na 

Was *?are, when her., who sits upon the waves, 
With kings in filthy whoredom he beheld , 

S:;-:- w:;o v.-.:;: srTe:: :.ri:5 ::~e:'d 2.: :;-: bi-h, 
Ana ::::a :f:.i ::::::s be: *:■:::■: ■:: e \:rv c:r~.\ 
L:v.z zs Lrr spr^r in v:f:u~ took~drj~:. 



A:,. C 



idnh, 



asiL, 1551. Epist, sine titult 
here probably corrupted. 



.:•?=-. The 

: ■:■:::■ ::Jy 



. '-: ^ . H . " v 






ed in Italics, which the 
is quotation, will m ike 
and not Rome, is here 



prophecies by two 
tcinr as Dante and 



: :mz~:. :r.s 

ns" i: ;•.••? 
r. i> in: ; ; 
here, 



;be In-, 
timse:: 



d Babylon by Dante and Petrarch. Mia di 

. :;3. 

antine!] He alludes to the pretended gift of 
by Gonstantine to Sylvester, of which Dante 
s* to imply a doubt "in his treatise u De Mo- 
2rgo scindere Imperium, Imperatori non licet 
p dignitates per Constantinum essent alienate 
Iioperio,' < ' &€-, lib iii "Therefore to make a 



119-135. HEL U Canto XX. \±+ 

Not thy conversion, but that plenteous dower, 
Which the first wealthy Father gain'd from thee " 

Meanwhile, as thus I sung, he, whether wrath 
Or conscience smote him, violent upsprang 
Spinning on either sole. I do believe 
My teacher well was pleased, with so composed 
A lip he listened ever to the sound 
Of the true words I utter'd. In both arms 
He caught, and, to his bosom lifting me, 
Upward retraced the way of his descent. 

Nor weary of his weight, he press'd me close, 
Till to the summit of the rock we came, 
Our passage from the fourth to the fifth pier. 
His cherish'd burden there gently he placed 
Upon the rugged rock and steep, a path 
Not easy for the clambering goat to mount. 

Thence to my view another vale appeard. 

CANTO XX. 



ARGUMENT. 

The Poet relates the punishment of such as presumed, while 
living, to predict future events. It is to have their faces 
reversed and set the contrary way on their limbs, so that, 

rent in the empire exceeds the lawful power of the emperor 
himself. If, then, some dignities were by Constantine alien- 
ated (as they report) from the empire, &c." In another part 
of the same treatise he speaks of the alienation with less 
doubt, indeed, but not with less disapprobation : " O felicem 
populum ! O Ausoniam te gloriosam ! si vel nunquam infir- 
mator imperii tui extitisset ; vel nunquam sua pia intentio 
ipsum fefellisset.'' — u O happy people! O glorious Italy! if 
either he who thus weakened thine empire had never been 
born, or had never suffered his own pious intentions to mis- 
lead him." Lib. ii. adfinem. 

The gift is by Ariosto very humorously placed in the moon, 
among the things lost or abused on earth : 
Di varj riori ad un gran monte passa, 
Ch' ebber gia buono odore, or puzzan forte, 
Questo era il dono (se perb dir lece) 
Che Costantino al buon Silvestro fece. 

Orl. Fur., c. xxxiv. St. 80- 
Milton has translated both this passage and that in the 
lext. Prose Works, vol. i. p. 11, ed. 1753. ~ « 

Ah, Constantine ! of how much ill was cause 
Not thy conversion, but those rich domains 
That the first wealthy pope received of thee. 
Then pass'd he to a flowery mountain green, 
Which once smelt sweet, now stinks as odiously ; 
This was that gift, if you the truth will have, 
That Constantine to good Silvester gave. 



148 THE VISION. l-3a 

being deprived of the power to see before them, they are 
constrained ever to walk backwards. Among these Virgil 
points out to him Amphiaraiis, Tiresias, Aruns, and Manto, 
(from the mention of whom he takes occasion to speak ol 
the origin of Mantua,) together with several others, who 
had practised the arts of divination and astrology. 

And now the verse proceeds to torments new, 
Fit argument of this the twentieth strain 
Of the first song, whose awful theme records 
The spirits whelm' d in wo. Earnest I look'd 
Into the depth, that open'd to my view, 
Moisten'd with tears of anguish, and beheld 
A tribe, that came along the hollow vale, 
In silence weeping : such their step as walk 
Quires, chanting solemn litanies, on earth. 

As on them more direct mine eye descer.ds, 
Each wonderously seem'd to be reversed 1 
At the neck -bone, so that the countenance 
Was from the reins averted ; and because 
None might before him look, they were compelld 
To advance with backward gait. Thus one perhaps 
Hath been by force of palsy clean transposed. 
But I ne'er saw it nor believe it so. 

Now, reader ! think within thyself, so God 
Fruit of thy reading give thee ! how I long 
Could keep my visage dry, 2 when I beheld 
Near me our form distorted in such guise, 
That on the hinder parts fallen from the face 
The tears down-streaming roll'd. Against a rock 
I lean'd and wept, so that my guide exclaim'd: 
" What, and art thou, too, witless as the rest ? 
Here pity most doth show herself alive, 
When she is dead. What guilt exceedeth his, 
Who with Heaven's judgment in his passion strives i 
Raise up thy head, raise up, and see the man 
Before whose eyes 3 earth gaped in Thebes, when all 

i Reversed.] 

But very uncouth sight was to behold 
How he did fashion his untoward pace ; 
For as he forward mov'd his footing old, 
So backward still was turn'd his wrinkled face ; 
Unlike to men who ever as they trace, 
r TJoth feet and face one way are wont to lead 

Spenser, Faery Queen, b. i. c. viii st. 3i 

* How I long 

Could keep my visage dry J 
Sight so deform what neart of man could long 
Dry-eyed behold 1 Adam could not, bat wept. 

Milton, P L., b. xi. 49A 
3 Before whose eyes.} Amphiaraiis, one of the seven kin^s 



31-46. HELL, Canto XX. 14a 

Cried out, ' Amphiaraiis, whither rushest ? 
Why leavest thou the war V He not the less 
Fell ruining 1 far as to Minos down, 
Whose grapple none eludes Lo ! how he makes 
The breast his shoulders ; and who once too far 
Before him wish'd to see, now backward looks, 
And treads reverse his path. Tiresias 2 note, 
Who semblance changed, when woman he became 
Of male, through every limb transform'd ; and then 
Once more behooved him with his rod to strike 
The two entwining serpents, ere the plumes, 
That mark'd the better sex, might shoot again. 

" Aruns, 3 with rere his belly facing, comes. 
On Luni's mountains midst the marbles white, 
Where delves Carrara's hind, who wons beneath, 
A cavern was his dwelling, whence the stars 

who besieged Thebes. He is said to have been swallowed uj. 
by an opening of the earth. See Lidgate's Storie of Thebes, 
part hi., where it is told how the " Bishop Amphiaraiis" fell 
down to hell : 

And thus the devill, for his outrages, 

Like his desert payed him his wages. 
A different reason, for his being doomed thus to perish, Is 
assigned by Pindar : 

6 <$' y A{i(pidpr]i, &c JSTem. ix 
For thee, Amphiaraiis, earth, 
By Jove's all-riving thunder cleft, 
Her mighty bosom open'd wide, 
Thee and thy plunging steeds to hide, 
Or ever on thy back the spear 
Of Periclymenus impress'd 
A wound to shame thy warlike breast 
For struck with panic fear 
The gods' own children flee. 
1 Ruining.] " Ruinare." Hence, perhaps, Milton, P. L., b.vi. 8f»g; 

Heaven ruining from heaven. 
8 Tiresias.] 

Duo magnorum viridi coe*untia sylva 

Corpora serpentum baculi violaverat ictu, 

Deque viro factus (mirabile) fcemina, septem 

Egerat autumnos. Octavo rursus eosdem 

Vidit. Et, est vestrae si tanta potentia plagae, 

Nunc quoque vos feriam. Percussis anguibus isdem 

Forma prior rediit, genitivaque venit imago. 

Ovid. Met., lib. iii. 
3 Aruns.] Aruns is said to have dwelt in the mountains 
of Luni, (from whence that territory is still called Lunigiana,) 
above Carrara, celebrated for its marble. Lucan. Phars., lib. 
'- 575. So Boccaccio, in the Fiammetta, lib. iii. : " Quale 
Arunte," &c. " Like Aruns, who amidst the white marblea 
of Luni contemplated the celestial bodies and their motions." 
Compare Fazio degli Uberti, Dittamondo, 1 iii cap. vi. 



150 THE VISION. 47-€ • 

Ajid main-sea wide in boundless view he held 

" The next, whose loosen'd tresses overspread 
Her bosom, which thou seest not (for each hair 
On that side grows) was Manto, 1 she who search'd 
Through many regions, and at length her seat 
Fix'd in my native land : whence a short space 
My words detain thy audience. When her sire 
From life departed, and in servitude 
The city dedicate to Bacchus mourn'd, 
Long time she went a wanderer through the world 
Aloft in Italy's delightful land 
A lake there lies, at foot of that proud Alp 
That o'er the Tyrol locks Germania in, 
Its name Benacus, from whose ample breast 
A thousand springs, methinks, and more, between 
C anionic a 2 and Garda, issuing forth, 
Water the Apennine. There is a spot 3 
At midway of that lake, where he who bears 
Of Trento's flock the pastoral staff, with him 
Of Brescia, and the Veronese, might each 
Passing that way his benediction give. 
A garrison of goodly site and strong 4 

i Manto.] The daughter of Tiresias of Thebes, a city dedi 
cated to Bacchus. From Manto, Mantua, the country of Virgil 
derives its name. The Poet proceeds to describe the situation 
of that place. But see the note to Purgatory, Canto xxii, 
v. 112. 

2 Camonica.] Lombardi, instead of 

Fra Garda, e val Camonica e Apennino, 
reads 

Fra Garda e val Camonica Pennino, 
from the Nidobeatina edition, (to which he might have added 
that of Vellutello in 1544,) and two MSS., all of which omit 
the second conjunction, the only part of the alteration that 
affects the sense. I have re-translated the passage, which in 
the former editions stood thus : 

which a thousand rills 

Methinks, and more, water between the vale 

Camonica and Garda, and the height 

Of Apennine remote. 

It should be added that Vellutello reads " Valdimonica" for 
" Val Camonica ;" but which of these is right remains to be 
determined by a collation of editions and MSS., and still more 
perhaps by a view of the country in the neighborhood of the 
lake, (now called the Lago di Garda,) with a reference to 
this passage. 

3 There is a spot.] Prato di Fame, where the dioceses of 
Trento, Verona, and Brescia meet. 

4 Ji garrison of goodly site and strong.] 

Gaza, bello e forte arnese 
Da fronteggiar i regni di Soria. 

Tasso, Ger. Lib., c. i. st. 67 



59-103. HELL, Canto XX. 15 j 

Peschiera 1 sts/ids, to awe with front opposed 
The Bergamese and Brescian, whence the shore 
More slope each way descends. There, whatsoe'er 
Benacus' bosom holds not, tumbling o'er 
Down falls, and winds a river flood beneath 
Through the green pastures. Soon as in his course 
The stream makes head, Benacus then no more 
They call the name, but Mincius, till at last 
Reaching Governo, into Po he falls. 
Not far his course hath run, when a wide flat 
It finds, which overstretching as a marsh 
It covers, pestilent in summer oft. 
Hence journeying, the savage maiden saw 
3Iidst of the fen a territory waste 
And naked of inhabitants. To shun 
All human converse, here she with her slaves, 
Plying her arts, remain'd, and lived, and left 
Her body tenantless. Thenceforth the tribes, 
Who round were scatter'd, gathering to that place, 
Assembled ; for its strength was great, enclosed 
On all parts by the fen. On those dead bones 
They reard themselves a city, for her sake 
Calling it Mantua, who first chose the spot, 
Nor ask'd another omen for the name ; 
Wherein more numerous the people dwelt, 
Ere CasalooTs madness 2 by deceit 
Was wrong'd of Pinamonte. If thou hear 
Henceforth another origin 3 assign'd 
Of that my country, I forewarn thee now, 
That falsehood none beguile thee of the truth." 
I answerd, " Teacher, I conclude thy words 
So certain, that all else shall be to me 
As embers lacking life. But now of these, 
Who here proceed, instruct me, if thou see 
Any that merit more especial note. 



: Peschiera.] A garrison situated to the south of the lake, 
where it empties itself and forms the Mincius. 

3 Casalodrs madness.] Alberto da Casalodi, who had got 
possession of Mantua, was persuaded, by Pinamonte Buona- 
cossi, that he might ingratiate himself with the people, by 
banishing to their own castles the nobles, who were obnox- 
ious to them. No sooner was this done, than Pinamonte put 
himself at the head of the populace, drove out Casalodi and 
his adherents, and obtained the sovereignty for himself. 

3 Another origin.] Lombardi refers to Serving on the Tenth 
Book of the iEneid. Alii a Tarchone Tyrrheni fratre condi- 
tam dicunt Mantuam autem ideo nominatam quia Etnisca 
dtiffua Mantum ditem patrem appellant. 



152 THE VISION. J04-1H 

For thereon is my mind alone intent.'"' [cheek 

He straight replied : " That spirit, from whoss 
The beard sleeps o'er his shoulders brown, what time 
Graecia was emptied of her males., that scarce 
The cradles were supplied, the seer was he 
In Aulisj who with Calchas gave the siga 
When first to cut the cable. Him they named 
Eurypilus : so sings my tragic strain. 1 
In wbish majestic measure well thou know'st. 
Who know'st it all. That other, round the loins 
So slender of his shape, was Michael Scot. 2 

1 So sings m§ tragic strm u] 

Suspensi Eurypilum scitatum oracula PhcEbi 
Mittimus. — - Pi gv JEmmd^ ii. 14. 

2 Michael Scot.] "Eg.: non ha ancora guari. che in questa 

citta fa un gran maestro in negromrmzia. 11 quale el be iiome 
Michele Scetto. percio che di Scozla era," Boccaccio, Dec. 
viii. nov. 9. 

"It is not long since there was in this city [Flatten 
great master in necromancy, who was called Michele Scotto 
because he was from Scotland." See also Giov. Villain, Hisr. 
lib. x. cap. cv. and cxli. and lib. xii.cap. xviii.. and Fazio degli 
Ubcrti. Dittamondo. 1. ii. cap. xxvii. 

I mike iiD ai: ;.logy for adding the following carious particu- 
lars extracted from the notes to Mr. Scott's Lay of the Last 
Minstrel, a poem in which a happy use is made of the super- 
stitions relating to the subject of this note. " Sir Michael 
Scott, ofBalwearie, flourished durincthe thirteenth century, 
and was one of the ambassadors sent to bring the Maid of 
Norway to Scotland upon the death of Alexander III. He 

was a man of much learning cquired in fc 

cauntries. He wrote a jommentary upon Aristotie. pi 
at Venice in 1496. and several treatises upon natural philo- 
sophy, from which he appeals have been addicted to the 
abstruse studies of judicial astrology, alehymy. physiognomy, 
and chiromancy. Hence he passed among iris contempora- 
ries foi a skilful magician. Dempster informs us. that he re- 
members to have heard in his youth, that the magic books 
of Michael Scott were still in existence, but could not be 
opened without 'larger, on account of the fiends who were 
thereby invoked. Dempsteri Historla Ecclesiastica. 1627, 
ii.' p. 495. Leslie characterizes Michael Scott as ' S. nga- 
lari philosophise astronomic ac medians lands pranstans, 
dicebatur penitissimos m°.giae rccessus indagasse. 1 A per- 
sonage thus spoken of by biographers and historians loses 
little of his mystical fame in vnlgai tradition. Accordingly, 
the memory of Sir Michael Scott survives in many a legend, 
and in the south of Scotland any work of great laboi 
antiquity is ascribed either to the agency of Auld Michael, of 
Sir William Wallace, or of the devil. Tradition varies con- 
cerning the place of his burial: some contend for Holme 
Coltrame in Cu hers for Melrose Abbey: but all 

agree that his books of magic were interred in his grave, ol 
preserved in the convent where he died." The Liy of tht 
Lcutt Minstrel, by Walter Scott, Esq.. Lond. 4 to. 150 "i." p. 234 
betes 



115-126. HELL, Canto XX. 153 

Practised in every slight of magic wile. 

" Guido Bonatti 1 see : Asdente 2 mark, 
Who now were willing he had tended stiL 
The thread and cordwain, and too late repents. 

" See next the wretches, who the needle left, 
The shuttle and the spindle, and became 
Diviners : baneful witcheries they wrought 
With images and herbs. But onward now : 
For now doth Cain with fork of thorns 3 confine 
On either hemisphere, touching the wave 
Beneath the towers of Seville. Yesternight 
The moon was round. Thou mayst remember well 



Mr. Warton, speaking of the new translations of Aiistotle, 
from the original Greek into Latin, about the twelfth cen- 
tury, observes : " I believe the translators understood very 
little Greek. Our countryman, Michael Scotus, was one of 
the first of them ; who was assisted by Andrew, a Jew. 
Michael was astrologer to Frederic II. Emperor of Germany, 
and appears to have executed his translations at Toledo in 
Spain, about the year 1220. These new versions were per- 
haps little more than corrections from those of the early 
Arabians, made under the inspection of the learned Spanish 
Saracens." History of English Poetnj, vol. i. dissert, ii. and 
sect. ix. p. 292. 

Among the Canonici MSS. in the Bodleian, I have seen 
(N° 520) the astrological works of Michael Scot, on vellum, 
with an illuminated portrait of him at the beginning. 

1 Guido Bonatti.] An astrologer of Forli, on whose skill 
Guido da Montefeltro, lord of that place, so much relied, that 
he is reported never to have gone into battle, except in the 
hour recommended to him as fortunate by Bonatti. 

Landino and Vellutello speak of a book which he com- 
posed on the subject of his art. Macchiavelli mentions him 
in the History of Florence, 1. i. p. 24, ed. 1550. "He flourished 
about 1230 and 1260. Though a learned astronomer, he was 
seduced by astrology, through which he was greatly in favof 
with many princes of that time. His many works are mis- 
erably spoiled by it." Bcttinclli, Risorgimento d> Italia, t. i. 
p. 118, 8vo. 178G. He is referred to in Brown's Vulg3r Er- 
rcTs, b. 4, c. 12. 

* Asdente.'] A shoemaker at Parma, who deserted his busi- 
ness to practise the arts of divination. How much this mac 
had attracted the public notice appears from a passage in 
our author's Convito, p. 179, where it is said, in speaking of 
the derivation of the word " noble," that " if those who were 
best known were accounted the most noble, Asdente, the 
shoemaker of Parma, would be more noble than any one in 
that city." 

3 Cain with fork of thorns.] By Cain and the thorns, of 
what is still vulgarly called the Man in the Moon, the Poet 
denotes that luminary. The same superstition is alluded to 
in the Paradise, Canto ii. 52. The curious reader may con- 
gait Brand on Popular Antiquities, 4to. 1813, vol. ii. p. 476, 
and Douce's Illustrations of Shakspeare, 8vo. 1807, v. i. p. 16 



154 THE VISION. \27-l2a 

For she good service did thee in the gloom 

Of the deep wood." This said, both onward moved 



CANTO XXI. 

ARGUMENT. 

Ctill in the eighth circle, which bears the name of Malebolge, 
they look down from the bridge that passes over its fifth 
gulf, upon the barterers or public peculators. These are 
plunged in a lake of boiling pitch, and guarded by Demons, 
to whom Virgil, leaving Dante apart, presents himself; and 
license being obtained to pass onward, both pursue their 
way. 

Thus we from bridge to bridge, with other talk, 
The which my drama cares not to rehearse, 
Pass'd on ; and to the summit reaching, stood 
To view another gap, within the round 
Of Malebolge, other bootless pangs. 

Marvellous darkness shadow'd o'er the place. 

In the Venetians' arsenal 1 as boils 
Through wintry months tenacious pitch, to smear 
Their unsound vessels ; for the inclement time 
Sea-faring men restrains, and in that while 
His bark one builds anew, another stops 
The ribs of his that hath made many a voyage, 
One hammers at the prow, one at the poop, 
This shapeth oars, that other cables twirls, 
The mizen one repairs, and main-sail rent ; 
So, not by force of fire but art divine, 
BoiPd 2 here a glutinous thick mass, that round 
Limed all the shore beneath. I that beheld, 
But therein naught distinguish' d, save the bubbles 
Raised by the boiling, and one mighty swell 
Heave, 3 and by turns subsiding fall. While there 

• In the Venetians'' arsenal.] 

Come dentr'ai Navai della gran terra, 
Tra le lacune del mar d'Adria posta, 
Serban la pece la togata gente, 
Ad uso di lor navi e di lor triremi ; 
Per solcar poi sicuri il mare ondoso, &c. 

Ruccellai, Le Api, v. 165. 
Dryden seems to have had the passage in the text before 
him in his Annus Mirabilis, st. 146, &c. 

2 BoiVd.] Vidi flumen magno de Inferno procedere ardens 
atque piceum. Alberici Visio, $ 17 

3 One mighty swell 

Hzzve._, 
Vidi etiam os putei magnum flammas emittentem, et mini 
sursum nurc deorsum descendentem. Mberici Visio %\\ 



Z2-54. HELL, Canto XXI. 15a 

I fix'd my ken below, " Mark ! mark !" my guide 
Exclaiming, drew me towards him from the place 
Wherein I stood. I turn'd myself, as one 
Impatient to behold that which beheld 
He needs must shun, whom sudden fear unmans, 
That he his flight delays not for the view. 
Behind me I discern'd a devil black, 
That running up advanced along the rock. 
Ah ! what fierce cruelty his look bespake ! 
In act how bitter did he seem, with wings 
Buoyant outstretch'd and feet of nimblest tread. 
His shoulder, proudly eminent and sharp, 
Was with a sinner charged ; by either haunch 
He held him, the foot's sinew griping fast. 

'' Ye of our bridge !" he cried, " keen-talon'd fieinis ! 
Lo ! one of Santa Zita's elders. 1 Him 
Whelm ye beneath, while I return for more. 
That land hath store of such. All men are there, 
Except Bonturo, barterers : 2 of ' no' 
For lucre there an ' aye' is quickly made." 

Him dashing down, o'er the rough rock he turn'd ; 
Nor ever after thief a mastiff loosed 
Sped with like eager haste. That other sank, 
And forthwith writhing to the surface rose. 
But those dark demons, shrouded by the bridge, 
Cried, " Here the hallow'd visage 3 saves not : here 
Is other swimming than in Serchio's wave, 4 
Wherefore, if thou desire we rend thee not, 
Take heed thou mount not o'er the pitch." This ^aid, 
They grappled him with more than hundred hooks, 
And shouted : " Cover'd thou must sport thee here ; 
So, if thou canst, in secret mayst thou filch." 
E'en thu3 the cook bestirs him, with his grooms, 

1 One of Santa Zita's elders.] The elders or chief magis 
Uates of Lucca, where Santa Zita was held in especial ven- 
eration. The name of this sinner is supposed to have been 
Martino Botaio. 

2 Except Bonturo, barterers.] This is said ironically o* 
Bonturo de' Dati. By barterers are meant peculators, of 
every description; all who traffic the interests of the put lie 
for their own private advantage 

3 The hallow'd visage.] A representation of the head of oui 
Saviour worshipped at Lucca. 

4 Is other swimming than in Serchio's wave.] 

Qui si nuota altrimenti che nel Serchio. 
Serchio is the river that flows by Lucca. So Pulci. Morg 
Magg., c. xxiv. 

Qui si nuota nel sangue, e non nel Serchio. 



156 THE VI-: ^ K 

To thrust the flesh 1 into the caldron down 
With flesh-hooks, that it float not on the top. 

Me then my guide bespake : u Lest they discry 
That thou art here, behind . ::: ggy rock 
Bend low and screen thee : and whate'er of for; : 
Be offer'd me. or insult, fear thou n : 
For I am well advised, who have been :rs: 
In the like fray." Beyond the bridge's head 
Therewith he pass'd ; and reaching the sixth pier. 
Behooved him then a forehead terror-proof. 

With storm and fury, as when dogs rush foith 
Upon the poor man's back, who suddenly 
From whence he standeth makes his suit : :: raahV 
Those from beneath the arch, and acrainst him 
Their weapons all they pointed. He, alond : 
f * Be none of you outrageous : ere your tin© 
Dare seize me, come forth from among you one. 
Who having heard my words, decide he then 
If he shall tear these limbs." They shouted loud, 
" Go, Malacoda !" Wheieal me advanced, 
The others standing firm, and as he came, 
" What may this turn avail him V he exclaim'd. 

"Believest thou, Malacoda I I had come 
Thus far from all your skirmishing secure," 
1 teacher answer'd, " without will divine 
And destiny propitious ? Pass we then ; 
For so Heaven's pleasure is, that I should lead 
Another throng!: this savage wilderness." 

Firth with so fell his pride, that he let drop 
The instrument of torture at his feet, 
And to the rest exclaim'd : u VP no power 

To strike him." Then to me my guide : " O thi n ! 
Who on the bridge among the crags dost sit 
Low crouching, safely now to me return." "di ; ~£ 

I rose, and towards liirn moved with speed ; the 
Meantime all forward drew : me terror seized, 
Lest they should break the compact they had made. 
Thus issuing from Caprona, 2 once I saw 
Thr infantry, dreading lest his covenant '::;.:.:. 

The foe should break ; so close he hemm'd them 

1 The fiesk.] In enndem frnmen comrant: rnrsuniqiit: 
assnrgentes, ac denuo recidentes, tamdrn. ibidem crueiantnf, 
donee in moreria earaium excocti, &c. jilberici Visio. ' 1 1 

2 From Caprona.] The surrender of the easile of Caprona 
to the combined forces of Florence and "Lucca, on condition 
\hat the garrison should march cnt in safety, to which eiren 
Dante was a witness, took place in 1290. See G Villain 
Hist., lib vft. c. 136. 




vV A 



( 






05-117. HELL, Canto XXI. 157 

I to ray leader's side adhered, mine eyes 
With fiVd and motionless observance bent 
On their unkindly visage. They their hooks 
Protruding, one the other thus bespake : 
" Wilt thou I touch him on the hip?" To whom 
Was answer'd : " Even so ; nor miss thy aim." 

But he, who was in conference with my guide, 
Turn'd rapid round ; and thus the demon spake : 
" Stay, stay thee, ^carmiglione !" Then to us 
He added : " Farther footing to your step 
This rock affords not, shiver'd to the base 
Of the sixth arch. But would ye still proceed, 
Up by this cavern go : not distant far, 
Another rock will yield you passage safe. 
Yesterday, 1 later by five hours than now, 
Twelve hundred threescore years and six had fill'd 
The circuit of their course, since here the way 
Was broken. Thitherward I straight dispatch 
Certain of these my scouts, who shall espy 
If any on the surface bask. With them 
Go ye : for ye shall find them nothing fell. 
Come, Alichino, forth," with that he cried, 
" And Calcabrina, and Cagnazzo 2 thou ! 



1 Yesterday.] This passage fixes the era of Dante's descent 
at Good Friday, in the year 1300, (34 years from our blessed 
Lord's incarnation being added to 1266,) and at the thirty- 
fifth year of our Poet's age. See Canto i. v. 1. 

The awful event alluded to, the Evangelists inform us, 
happened "at the ninth hour," that is, our sixth, when "the 
rocks were rent," and the convulsion, according to Dante, 
was felt even in the depths of Hell. See Canto xii. v. 38. 

2 Cagnazzo.] Pulci introduces some of these demons in a 
very pleasant adventure, related near the beginning of the 
uLcond Canto of his Morganto Maggiore : 

Non senti tu, Orlando, in quella tomba 
Quelle parole, che colui rimbomba 1 
To voglio andar a scoprir quello avello, 
La dove e' par che queha voce s'oda, 
Ed escane Cagnazzo, e Farfarello ; 
O Libicocco, col suo Malacoda ; 
E finalmente s'accostava a quello, 
Perb che Orlando questa impresa loda, 
E disse ; scuopri, se vi fussi dentro 
Quanti ne piovon mai dal ciel nel centro. 

Stanze 30, 1. 
" Perceivest the words, Orlando, which this fellow 
Doth in our ears out of that tomb rebellow? 
" I'll go, and straight the sepulchre uncase, 
From whence, as seems to me, that voice was hear*} : 
Be Farfarel and Cagnazzo to my face, 
Or Libicoc with Malacoda, stirr'd :"' 
14 



t58 THE VISION. 118-lTi 

The troop of ten let Barbariccia lead. 

With Libicocco, Draghinazzo haste, 

Fang'd Ciriatto. Grarhacane fierce, 

And Fartarello, and mad Rubicant. 

Search ye around the bubbling tar. For these, 

In safety lead them, where the other crag 

Uninterrupted traverses the dens." 5 

I then: " O master I 1 what a sight is there ' 
Ah ! without escort, journey we alone, 
Which, if thou know the way. I covet not. 
Unless thy prudence fail thee, dost not mark 
How they do gnarl upon us. and their scowl 
Threatens us present tortures V s He replied : 
" I charge thee, fear not : let them, as they will, 
Gnarl on : 'tis but in token of their spite 
Against the souls who mourn in torment steep'd/' 

To leftward o'er the pier they turn'd : but each 
Had first between his teeth press'd close the tongue, 
Toward their leader for a signal looking. 
Which he with sound obscene' 2 triumphant gave. 



CAXTO XXII 

ARGUMENT. 

Virgil aud Dante proceed, accompanied by the Demon?, and 
see other sinners of the same description in the same gulf. 
The device of Ciampolo. one of these, to escape from the 
Demons, who had laid hold on him. 

It hath been heretofore my chance to see 
Horsemen with martial order shifting camp, 
To onset sallying, or in muster ranged. 
Or in retreat sometimes outstretch'd for flight : 
Light-armed squadrons and fleet foragers 
Scouring thy plains. Arezzo ! have I seen, 
And clashing tournaments, and tilting jousts. 
Xow with the sound of trumpets, now of bells, 

And finally he drew near to the place : 
Th' emprize Orlando praising with this word: 
" Uncase it, though within as many dwell. 
As ever were from heaven rain'd down to hell.'' 
i master!] Lombardi tells us that every edition, excepi 
his favorite Xidobeat'ma. has " O me*' printed separately, in- 
stead of " Ome." This is not the case at least with Landi- 
no's of 1454. But there is no end of these inaccuracies. 

2 With sound obscene.] Compare the original with Aristo- 
phanes, Nubes. 165 : — 

cd\-i)% b rrpuK-b) tcriv. 



*-34. HELL, Canto XXII. 159 

Tabors, 1 or signals made from castled heigh Is, 

And with inventions multiform, our own, 

Or introduced from foreign land : but ne'er 

To such a strange recorder I beheld, 

In evolution moving, horse nor foot, 

Nor ship, that tack'd by sign from land or star 

With the ten demons on our way we went ; 
Ah, fearful company ! but in the church 2 
With saints, with gluttons at the tavern's mess. 

Still earnest on the pitch I gazed, to mark 
All things whate'er the chasm contain'd, 3 and those 
Who burn'd within. As dolphins 4 that, in sign 
To mariners, heave high their arched backs, 
That thence forewarn'd they may advise to save 
Their threaten'd vessel ; so, at intervals, 
To ease the pain, his back some sinner show'd, 
Then hid more nimbly than the lightning-glance. 

E'en as the frogs, that of a watery moat 
Stand at the brink, with the jaws only out, 
Their feet and of the trunk all else conceal'd, 
Thus on each part the sinners stood ; but soon 
As Barbariccia was at hand, so they 
Drew back under the wave. I saw, and yet 
My heart doth stagger, one, that waited thus, 
As it befalls that oft one frog remains, 
While the next springs away : and Graffiacan, 5 



1 Tabors.] "Tabor, a drum, a common accompaniment of 
war, is mentioned as one of the instruments of martial music 
in this battle (in Richard Cceur-de-Lion) with characteristi 
cal propriety. It was imported into the European armies 
from the Saracens in the holy war. Joinville describes a 
superb bark, or galley belonging to a Saracen chief which, he 
says, was filled with cymbals, tabors, and Saracen horns. 
Hist, de S. Loys, p. 30." JVarton's Hist, of English Poetry, 
v. i. § 4, p. 167. 

2 In the church.] This proverb is repeated by Pulci. Morg, 
Magg., c. xvii. 

3 Whate'er the chasm contained.] Monti, in his Proposta, 
interprets " contegno" to mean, not "contents" but "state," 
' condition." 

4 As dolphins.] 

li lieti delfmi 

Givan saltando sopra l'onde chiare, 
Che soglion di fortuna esser divini. 

Frezzi. II Quadrir., lib. i. cap. 15. 

5 Graffiacan.] Fuseli, in a note to his third Lecture, ob- 
serves, that " the Minos of Dante, in Messer Biagio da Cese- 
na, and his Charon, have been recognised by all ; but less 
the shivering wretch held over the barge by a hook, and evi- 
dently taken from this passage." He is speaking of Michael 
Angelo's Last Judgment. 



160 THE VISION. 35-5* 

Who of the fiends rest, grappling seized 

His dotted Locks, and dragged him sprawling up, 
That he appeard to me an otter. Each 
ii names I knew, so well 
When they were show ■ I : : served, and mark'd 
How one the other calTd. u O Rnbicant ! 
^rrr thai tins hide thou with thy talons £: 
Shouted together all the em sod 

Then I : u Inform th st : \ if thon n 

What wretched soul is this, on whom their hands 
Bib foes have laid." My leadei :: hn side 
Approach 5 d, and whence he came inquired : to whom 
" r as : :.:"•-:■ r'd thus : u Born in Navarre's ioma 
My mother placed me in a lord's letin 
7 . . she had borne me to a lose". \ 
A spendthrift of his substance and himself. 
The good king Thibaulr after that I 
T ilating /.ere my thoughts were bm 

rf _ gin ic . ami in this lire beat-** 

Steai ghl C in i tt ; . fit m whose mouth a task 



rm in Navarre's domainJ] The name of this peculator 

is said to have been Ciampolo. 

2 The good king ThibaiUt.] " Thibault L K \ 

died on the Sth of June, 1*233, as much to be commended for 

I ". r ag the war in the Holy Land, as 

reprehensible and faulty for fa :>f oppressing the 

rights and privileges of the church : on which accou::: .: fa 

said that the whole kingdom was under an interdict lor the 

rf three entire years.— Thi eadl and luJy merits 

-ecially for his cal- 

m of the liberal u and knowledge of 

in which he so much excelled, that h 

me 1 ti nape ; e verses and sing them to the viol, and 

to exhibit his poetical compositions publicly in his palace, 

.-......- sed :y alL" MarianxL, History mf 

Spain, b. xiii. c. 9. 
An account of Thibault and two of his song ; 

probably the original melodies, may be seen in Br. 
Burne ; :f Music, v. ii. c which 

are in the French language \ 1 I que de 

Puds 1719 9 . - 2 '-ijo. Dante twice quotes 
one of his verses in the Treatise de Yulg. Eloc 
and lib. ii. c. v., and refers to him Bgaii 

From K the good king TMb tended the" good, 

bnt more unfortunate monarch, L : France, and 

f that realm. 
S . t H - n rail .-_ ': :ege Chron. 1-25-2. 3. 4. 

3 / aenped.] Ag :. Irmbardi mi*: :he leadings 

of othc i 7 ... una as fa e iocs I fau og . ■ 10 in several 

serein he :: hieh he has 

be eeted : ' : i his model ; but a ~e»aid certain 

::. and do not aHect tha 

*ense, I shall not trouble : - by noticing them. 



55-92. HELL, Canto XXII. 1€I 

Issued on either side, as from a boar, 

Ripp'd him with one of these. 'Twixt evil claws 

The mouse had fallen : but Barbariccia cried, 

Seizing him with both arms: " Stand thou apart, 

While I do fix him on my prong transpierced." 

Then added, turning to my guide his face, 

" Inquire of him, if more thou wish to learn, 

Ere he again be rent." My leader thus : 

" Then tell us of the partners in thy guilt ; 

Knowest thou any sprung of Latian land 

Under the tar]" — " I parted," he replied, 

u But now from one, who scjourn'd not far thence : 

So were I under shelter now with him, 

Nor hook nor talon then should scare me more." 

" Too long we suffer," Libicocco cried ; 
Then, darting forth a prong, seized on his arm, 
And mangled bore away the sinewy part. 
Him Draghinazzo by his thighs beneath 
Would next have caught ; whence angrily their chief. 
Turning on all sides round, with threatening brow 
Restrain'd them. When their strife a little ceased, 
Of him, who yet was gazing on his wound, 
My teacher thus without delay inquired : 
" Who was the spirit, from whom by evil hap 
Parting, as thou hast told, thou earnest to shore?" — 

;< It was the friar Gomita," 1 he rejoin'd, 
" He of Gallura, vessel of all guile, 
Who had his master's enemies in hand, 
And used them so that they commend him well. 
]\Ioney he took, and them at large dismiss'd ; 
So he reports ; and in each other charge 
Committed to his keeping play'd the part 
Of barterer to the height. With him doth herd 
The chief of Logodoro, Michel Zanche. 2 
Sardinia is a theme, whereof their tongue 
Is never weary. Out ! alas ! behold 
That other, how he grins. More would I say, 
But tremble lest he mean to maul me sore." 



1 The friar Gomita.'] He was intrusted by Xino de' Vi *- 
oonti with the government of Gallura, one of the four jurisdic 
rions into which Sardinia was divided. Having his master's 
enemies in his power, he took a bribe from them, and allowed 
them to escape. Mention of Xino will recur in the notes tc 
Canto xvxiii., and in the Purgatory, Canto viii. 

2 JSIichel Zanche.] The president of Logodoro, another of 
the four Sardinian jurisdictions See Canto xxxru. Note Xu 
». J3G. 



162 THE VISION. 93-131 

Their captain then to Farfarello turning, 
Who roll'd his moony eyes in act to strike, 
Rebuked him thus : " Off, cursed bird ! avaunt !" 

" If ye desire to see or hear," he thus 
Quaking with dread resumed, " or Tuscan spirits 
Or Lombard, I will cause them to appear 
Meantime let these ill talons bate their fury, 
So that no vengeance they may fear from them, 
And I, remaining in this self-same place, 
Will, for myself but one, make seven appear, 
When my shrill whistle shall be heard : for so 
Our custom is to call each other up." 

Cagnazzo at that word deriding grinn'd, 
Then wagg'd the head and spake : " Hear his device 
Mischievous as he is, to plunge him down." 

Whereto he thus, who fail'd not in rich store 
Of nice-wove toils : " Mischief, forsooth, extreme i 
Meant only to procure myself more wo." 

No longer Alichino then refrain'd, 
But thus, the rest gainsaying, him bespake : 
" If thou do cast thee down, I not on foot 
Will chase thee, but above the pitch will beat 
My plumes. Quit we the vantage ground, and let 
The bank be as a shield ; that we may see, 
If singly thou prevail against us all." 

Now, reader, of new sport expect to hear. 

They each one turn'd his eyes to the other shore, 
He first, who was the hardest to persuade. 
The spirit of Navarre chose well his time, 
Planted his feet on land, and at one leap 
Escaping, disappointed their resolve. 

Them quick resentment stung, but him the most 
Who was the cause of failure : in pursuit 
He therefore sped, exclaiming, " Thou art caught.'* 

But little it ayail'd ; terror outstripp'd 
His following flight ; the other plunged beneath, 
And he with upward pinion raised his breast : 
E'en thus the water-fowl, when she perceives 
The falcon near, dives instant down, while he 
Enraged and spent retires. That mockery 
In Calcabrina fury stirr'd, who flew 
After him, with desire of strife inflamed : 
And, for the barterer had 'scaped, so turn'd 
His talons on his comrade. O'er the dike 
In grapple close they join'd ; but thetothei proved 
A goshawk able to rend well his foe ; 
&nd in the boiling lake both fell. The heat 



140 -H8. HELL, Canto XXIII. 163 

Was umpire 1 soon between them ; but in -\ ain 
To Jift themselves they strove, so fast were glued 
Their pennons. Barbariccia, as the rest, 
That chance lamenting, four in flight dispatclrd 
From the other coast, with all their weapons arm'd. 
They, to their post on each side speedily 
Descending, stretch'd their hooks toward the fiends, 
Who flounder'd, inly burning from their scars : 
And we departing left them to that broil. 

CAXTO XXIIT 

ARGUMENT. 
The enraged Demons pursue Dante, but he is preserved from 
them by Virgil. On reaching the sixth gulf, he beholds 
the punishment of the hypocrites ; which is, to pace con- 
tinually round the gulf under the pressure of caps and 
hoods, that are gilt on the outside, but leaden within. He 
is addressed by two of these, Catalano and Loderingo. 
knights of Saint Mary, otherwise called Joyous Friars of 
Bologna. Ca'iaphas is seen fixed to a cross on the ground, 
and lies so stretched along the way, that all tread on him 
in passing. 

In silence and in solitude we went, 
One first, the other following his steps, 
As minor friars journeying on their road. 

The present fray had turn'd my thoughts to muse 
Upon old JEsop's fable, 2 where he told 
What fate unto the mouse and frog befell ; 
For language hath not sounds more like in sense, 
Than are these chances, if the origin 
And end of each be needfully compared. 
And as one thought bursts from another forth, 
So afterward from that another sprang, 
Which added doubly to my former fear. 
For thus I reason'd: " These through us have been 
So foil'd, with loss and mockery so complete, 
As needs must sting them sore. If anger then 
Be to their evil will conjoin'd, more fell 
They shall pursue us, than the savage hound 
Snatches the leveret panting "twixt his jaws." 

Already I perceived my hair stand all 

1 Umpire, j Schermidor. The reader, if he thinks it worth 
while, may consult the Proposta of Mcnti on this w ord, which, 
with Lombardi, he would alter to sghermitor. 

8 JEsop's fable.] The fable of the frog, who offered to car 
rv the mouse across a ditch, with the intention of drowning 
him, when both were carried off by a kite. It is not among 
nose Greek fables which go unde : the name of iEsop. 



164 
On e 



THE VISION. 



•-S5: 



t:- 

t:-. 



d look'd eager back, 
began, ** if speedily 
lide not, much I dread 

en :..: ~ z t!:::; 



He : 

I --; 

t;-v ,:-. 
TrA: :: 
Fresen- 
Ani :; 

I cioe c 

I:::: :- 



lyself 
imprint 






I 



Hr 

Appro-li:: :: 
Caught nie, ct 
Is :;t Mr : ; s~ 
T:;e" jlimbin^ : 
A::£ £.rs ne'er 
Tr.iiz :•:' L-rrsrl 
Clings round he 
Supine he cast 
Which closes o 
X:'."v: re:: v: 
Aio— n :"..e :n: 
:en neeres: 
As n:e:: ^:;:: 
Csrrvin - nee V. 
No: 'z. -;:•—■ -± 

Wh- over -s 
I- Li- vrnsno: 
V."----- - - ^ ■ 

Power c: :: :: 



1 end, 

ri: v;-;n ~s 



mine vest 

o: :::::: :::e ;':::::n_; :ee:e 

e:::":::: :: :k, 

a other chasm. 

e e.oTy.:: :-:r 

ad-mill's wheel. 



:::s :ee: 



"::: :;ss. 

:e:: e~: 



= ?:.• 






or: :"::. r-rzf'.-.s rr/.-r^s 
r.i r..-::v.-:r.> h-:rr;ii< ub 
) aspecmque proceras ics- 

.;:::- :-z:-:izLzz.e r.::-::e 
elocius acconens. meqat 

z. -nose :::;o::; vis^c.s 



60-100. HELL, Canto XXIII. 165 

Faint in appearance and o'ercome with toil. 
Caps had they on, with hoods, that fell low down 
Before their eyes, in fashion like to those 
Worn by the monks in Cologne. 1 Their outside 
Was overlaid with gold, dazzling to view, 
But leaden all within, and of such weight, 
That Frederick's 2 compared to these were straw. 
Oh, everlasting wearisome attire ! 

We yet once more with them together turn'd 
To leftward, on their dismal moan intent. 
But by the weight oppress'd, so slowly came 
The fainting people, that our company 
Was changed, at every movement of the step. 

Whence I my guide address'd : "See that thou 
find 
Some spirit, whose name may by his deeds be known 
And to that end look round thee as thou go'st." 

Then one, who understood the Tuscan voice, 
Cried after us aloud : " Hold in your feet, 
Ye who so swiftly speed through the dusk air. 
Perchance from me thou shalt obtain thy wish." 

"Whereat my leader, turning, me bespake : 
" Pause, and then onward at their pace proceed." 

I stay'd, and saw two spirits in whose look 
Impatient eagerness of mind was mark'd 
To overtake me ; but the load they bare 
And narrow path retarded their approach. 

Soon as arrived, they with an eye askance 
Perused me, but spake not : then turning, each 
To other thus conferring said : " This one 
Seems, by the action of his throat, alive ; 
And, be they dead, what privilege allows 
They walk unmantled by the cumbrous stole?" 

Then thus to me : " Tuscan, who visitcst 
The college of the mourning hypocrites, 
Disdain not to instruct us who thou art." 

" By Arno's pleasant stream," I thus replied, 
" In the great city I was bred and grew, 
And wear the body 1 have ever worn. 
But who are ye, from whom such mighty grief, 
As now I witness, courseth down your cheeks ? 
What torment breaks forth in this bitter wo?" 

1 Monks in Cologne.} They wore their cowls unusually 
'.arge. 

2 Frederick's.] The Emperor Frederick II. is said to hava 
punished those who were guilty of high treason by wrapping 
them up in lead, and casting them into a furnace. 



166 THE VISION. loi-iu 

" Oar bonnets gleaming bright with orange hue,'' 
One of them answer'd, " are so leaden gross, 
That with their weight they make the balances 
To crack beneath them. Joyous friars 2 we were. 
Bologna's natives ; Catalano I, 
He Loderingo named : and by thy land 
Together taken, as men use to take 
A single and indifferent arbiter, 
To reconcile their strifes. How there we sped, 
Gardingo's vicinage 5 can best declare." 

" O friars [" I began, " your miseries — n 
But there brake off, for one had caught mine eye, 
Fix'd to a cross with three stakes on the ground : 
He, when he saw me, writhed himself, throughout 

1 Our bonnets gleaming bright with orange hue.] It is ob 
rerved by Ventnri, that the word "ranee" does not here sig 
nify •• rancid or disgustful," as it is explained by the old com 
mentators, but "orange-colored," in which sense it occurs ic 
the Purgatory, Canto ii. 9. 

By the erroneous interpretation Milton appears to have 
been misled ; " Ever since the day peepe, till now the sun 
was grown somewhat ranke" Prose If'orks, v. i. p. 160, ed 
1753." 

2 Joyous friars.] "Those who ruled the city of Florence 
on the part of the Ghibellines, perceiving this discontent and 
murmuring, which they were fearful might produce a rebel 
lion against themselves, in order to satisfy the people, made 
choice of two knights, Frati Godenti (joyous friars) of Bo 
logna, on whom they conferred the chief power in Florence , 
one named M. Catalano de' Malavolti. the other M. Loderingo 
di Liandolo ; one an adherent of the Guelph, the other of the 
Ghibelline party. It is to be remarked, that the Joyous 
Friars were called Knights of St. Mary, and became knights 
on taking that habit : their robes were white, the mantle 
sable, and the arms a white field and red cross with two stars : 
their office was to defend widows and orphans ; they were to 
act as mediators ; they had internal regulations like other 
religious bodies. The above-mentioned M. Loderingo was 
the founder of that order. But it was not long before they 
too well deserved the appellation given them, and were 
found to be more bent on enjoying themselves than on any 
other object. These two friars were called in by the Floren 
tines, and had a residence assigned them in the palace be 
longing to the people, over against the Abbey. Such was 
the dependence placed on the character of their order, that 
it was expected they would be impartial, and would save the 
commonwealth any unnecessary expense ; instead of which, 
though inclined to opposite parties, they secretly and hypo- 
critically concurred in promoting their own advantage rather 
than the public good." G. VUlani, b. vii. c. 13. This hap 
pened in 1*266. 

3 Gardingo's vicinage.] The name of that part of the city 
which was inhabited by the powerful Ghibelline family of 
the Uberti, and destroyed under the partial and iniquitoaa 
idministration of Catalano and Loderingo. 



U5-151. HELL, Canto XXIII. J 67 

Distorted, ruffling with deep sighs his beard. 

And Catalano, who thereof was 'ware, 

Thus spake : " That pierced spirit, 1 whom into at 

Thou view'st, was he who gave the Pharisees 

Counsel, that it were fitting for one man 

To suffer for the people. He doth lie 

Transverse ; nor an}~ passes, but him first 

Behooves make feeling trial how each weighs. 

In straits like this along the foss are placed 

The father of his consort, 2 and the rest 

Partakers in that council, seed of ill 

And sorrow to the Jews.*' I noted then 

How Virgil gazed with wonder upon him, 

Thus abjectly extended on the cross 

In banishment eternal. To the friar 

He next his words address'd : " We pray ye .ell, 

[f so be lawful, whether on our right 

Lies any opening in the rock, whereby 

We both may issue hence, without constraint 

On the dark angels, that compelled they come 

To lead us from this depth." He thus replied : 

" Xearer than thou dost hope, there is a rock 

From the great 3 circle moving, which oversteps 

Each vale of horror, save that here his cope 

Is shatter'd. By th^ ruin ye may mount : 

For on the side it slants, and most the height 

Rises below." With head bent down awhile 

}Iy leader stood ; then spake : " He warn'd us ill,* 

Who yonder hangs the sinners on his hook." 

To whom the friar: " At Bologna erst 
I many vices of the devil heard ; 
Among the rest was said, ' He is a liar, 5 
1 And the father of lies !' " When he had spoke, 
My leader with large strides proceeded on, 
Somewhat disturb'd with anger in his look. 

I therefore left the spirits heavy laden, 
And, following, his beloved footsteps mark'd. 

1 That pierced spirit.] Ca'iaphas. 

2 The father of his consort.] Annas, father-in-law to Cai' 
aphas. 

3 Great.] In the former editions it was punted ''next" 
The error was observed by Mr. Carlyle. 

4 He icarn'd us ill.] He refers to the falsehood told him 
by the demon. Canto xxi. 108. 

5 He is a liar.] " He is a liar and the father of it." John^ 
c viii. 44. Dante had perhaps heard this text from one of the 
pulpits in Bologna. 



108 THE VISION. 1-2* 

CANTO XXIV 

ARGUMENT. 
Under the escort of his faithful master, Dante not withou 
difficulty makes his way out of the sixth gulf: and in the 
seventh, sees the robbers tormented by venomous and pes- 
tilent serpents. The soul of Vanni Fucci, who had pillaged 
the sacristy of Saint James in Pistoia, predicts some ca- 
lamities that impended over that city, and over the Floren 
tines. 

L\ the year's early nonage, 1 when the sun 
Tempers his tresses in Aquarius' urn, 
And now towards equal day the nights recede ; 
"When as the rime upon the earth puts on 
Her dazzling sister's image, 2 but not long 
Her milder sway endures ; then riseth up 
The village hind, whom fails his wintry store, 3 
And looking out beholds the plain around 
All whiten'" d : whence impatiently he smites 
His thighs, and to his hut returning in, 
There paces to and fro, wailing his lot, 
As a discomfited and helpless man ; 
Then comes he forth again, and feels new hope 
Spring in his bosom, finding e'en thus soon 
The world hath changed its countenance, grasps his 
And forth to pasture drives his little flock : [crook, 
So me my guide dishearten'd, when I saw 
His troubled forehead ; and so speedily 
That ill was cured ; for at the fallen bridge 
Arriving, towards me with a look as sweet, 
He turn'd him back, as that I first beheld 
At the steep mountain's foot. Regarding well 
The ruin, and some counsel first maintain'd 
With his own thought, he open'd wide his arm 

1 In the year's early nonage.] "At the latter part of Jan 
uary, when the sun enters into Aquarius, and the equinox is 
drawing near, when the hoar-frosts in the morning often weal 
the appearance of snow, but are melted by the rising sun." 

2 Her dazzling sister's image.] 
biyvvv fiiXairav, al6\nv xvpbg Kaaiv. 

Jffisckyl. Septcm Contra Thebas, v. 490, BlomfieUVs edit 

Kacris 

tttjXov i-iyovpos, ci^ia kovi$. 

JEschyl. Agamemnon, v. 478, Blomjield 
Whom fails his icintry store.] 
A cui la roba manca. 
So in the Purgatorio, c. xiii. 61. 

Cosi gli ciechi a cui la roba manca 



25-54. HELL, Canto XXIV. l(jg 

And took me up. As one, who, while he works, 

Computes his labor's issue, that he seems 

Still to foresee the effect ; so lifting me 

Up to the summit of one peak, he fix'd 

His eye upon another. " Grapple that," 

Said he, " but first make proof, if it be such 

As will sustain thee." For one capp'd with lead 

This were no journey. Scarcely he, though light, 

And I, though onward push'd from crag to crag, 

Could mount. And if the precinct of this coast 

Were not less ample than the last, for him 

I know not, but my strength had surely fail'd. 

But Malebolge all toward the mouth 

Inclining of the nethermost abyss, 

The site of every valley hence requires, 

That one side upward slope, the other fall. 

At length the point from whence 1 the utmost stone 
Juts down, we reach'd ; soon as to that arrived, 
So was the breath exhausted from my lungs, 
I could no further, but did seat me there. 

" Now needs thy best of man ;" so spake my guide : 
" For not on downy plumes, 2 nor under shade 
Of canopy reposing, fame is won ; 
Without which whosoe'er consumes his days, 
Leaveth such vestige of himself on earth, 
As smoke in air, or foam upon the wave. 
Thou therefore rise : vanquish thy weariness 3 
By the mind's effort, in each struggle form'd 
To vanquish, if she suffer not the weight 
Of her corporeal frame to crush her down. 

i From whence.] Mr. Carlyle notes the mistake in my fof 
ruer transition ; and I have corrected it accordingly. 
11 *Yot on downy plumes.] 

Lettor, tu dei pensar che, senza ardire, 
Senza aflanno sotfrir, l'uomo non puote 
Fama acquistar, ne gran cose fornire. 

Fazio degli Uberti, Dittamondo, lib. iv cap. Jv. 
Nessun mai per fuggir, o per riposo, 
Venne in altezza fama ovver in gloria. 

Frezzi, H Quadrir., lib. ii. cap. ii. 
Signor, non sotto l'ombra in piaggia molle 
Tra fonti e fior, tra Ninfe e tra Sirene, 
Ma in cima all'erto e faticoso colle 
Delia virtu riposto e il nostro bene. 

Tasso, G. L., c. xvii. bt 61 
* Vanquish thy weariness.] 

Q.uin corpus onustum 

Hesternis vitiis animum quoque prsegravat unft, 
A tque affigit humi divinae particulam aura?. 

Hor. Sat., ii. lib. ii 7ft 
15 



170 THE VISION. 55-92 

A longer ladder yet remains to scale 
From these to have escaped sufficeth not. 
If well thou note me, profit by my words." 

I straightway rose, and show'd myself less spent 
Than I in truth did feel me. " On," I cried, 
" For I am stout and fearless." Up the rock 
Our way we held, more rugged than before, 
Narrower, and steeper far to climb. From talk 
I ceased not, as we journey'd, so to seem 
Least faint ; whereat a voice from the other foss 
Did issue forth, for utterance suited ill. 
Though on the arch that crosses there I sto id, 
What were the words I knew not, but who spak e 
Seem'd moved in anger. Down I stoop'd to lccit ; 
But my quick eye might reach not to the depth 
For shrouding darkness ; wherefore thus I spake : 
" To the next circle, teacher, bend thy steps, 
And from the wall dismount we ; for as hence 
I hear and understand not, so I see 
Beneath, and naught discern." — " I answer not." 
Said he, " but by the deed. To fair request 
Silent performance maketh best return." 

We from the bridge's head descended, where 
To the eighth mound it joins ; and then, the chasm 
Opening to view, I saw a crowd within 
Of serpents 1 terrible, so strange of shape 
And hideous, that remembrance in my veins 
Yet shrinks the vital current. Of her sands 2 
Let Lybia vaunt no more ; if Jaculus, 
Pareas and Chelyder be her brood, 
Cenchris and Amphisbaena, plagues so dire 
Or in such numbers swarming ne'er she show'd, 
Not with all Ethiopia, and whatever 
Above the Erythraean sea is spawn'd. 

Amid this dread exuberance of wo 
Ran naked spirits wing'd with hon'd fear, 
Nor hope had they of crevice wheio to hide, 
Or heliotrope 3 to charm them out of view. 

1 Serpents.] Vidi locum horridum tenebrosum foetoribas 
exhalantibus flammis crepitantibus serpentibus, draconibus 
— repletum. Alberici Ptsio, §12. 

2 Of her sands.] Compare Lucan, Phars., lib. ix. 703. 

3 Heliotrope.] Viridi colore est (gemma heliotropion) noa 
ita acuto sed nubilo magis et represso, stellis puniceis super • 
spersa. Causa nominis de effectu lapidis est et potentate. 
Dejecta in labris ameis radios solis mutat sanguineo reper- 
cussu, utraque aqua splendorem aeris abjicit et avertit 
Etiam iilud posse dicitur, vt herbn. ejusdem nominis mixta 
st praecantationibus legitimis consecrata, eum, a quocunque 



93-111. HELL, Canto XXIV. n\ 

With serpents were their hands behind them bound, 

Which through their reins infix'd the tail and head, 

Twisted in folds before. And lo ! on one 

Near to our side, darted an adder up, 

And, where the neck is on the shoulders tied, 

Transpierced him. Far more quickly than e'er pen 

Wrote O or I, he kindled, burn'd, and changed 

To ashes all, pour'd out upon the earth. 

When there dissolved he lay, the dust again 

UprolFd spontaneous, and the self same form 

Instant resumed. So mighty sages tell, 

The Arabian Phoenix, 1 when five hundred years 

Have well-nigh circled, dies, and springs forthwith 

Renascent : blade nor herb throughout his life 

He tastes, but tears of frankincense 2 aione 

And odorous amomum : swaths of nard 

And myrrh his funeral shroud. As one that falls, 

He knows not how, by force demoniac dragg'd 

To earth, or through obstruction fettering up 

gestabitur, suhtrahat visibus obviorum. Solinus, c. xl. li A 
stone," says Boccaccio, in his humorous tale of Calandrino, 
" which we lapidaries call heliotrope, of such extraordinary 
virtue, that the bearer of it is effectually concealed from the 
sight of all present." Decam., G. viii. N. 3. 

In Chiabrera's Ruggiero, Scaltrimento begs of Sofia, who ia 
sending him on a perilous errand, to lend him the heliotrope 

In mia man fida 

L'elitropia, per cui possa involarmi 
Secondo il mio talento agli occhi altrui. c. vi. 

Trust to my hand the heliotrope, by which 
1 may at will from others' eyes conceal me. 
Compare Ariosto, II Negromante, a. 3, s. 3. Pulci, Morg 
Magg., c. xxv., and Fortiguerra, Ricciardetto, c. x. St. 17. 

Gowcr, in his Confessio Amantis, lib. vii. enumerates it 
among the jewels in the diadem of the sun : — 
Jaspis and helitropius. 
i The Arabian Phoenix.] This is translated from Oviil, 
Me am., lib. xv. :— 

Una est qua? reparat, seque ipsa reseminat ales ; 
Assyrii Phoenica vocant. Nee fruge neque herbis, 
Sed thuris lacrymis, et succo vivit amomi. 
Hcec ubi quinque suae complevit secula vita?, 
Ilicis in ramis, tremulaeve cacumine palmoe, 
Unguibus et pando nidum sibi construit ore. 
Qua simul ut casias, et nardi ienis aristas, 
Quassaque cum fulva substravit cinnama mynlia, 
Se super imponit, finitque in odoribus sevum. 
See also Petrarch, Canzone : — 
Qual piu, &c. 
2 Tears of frankincense.] 

Incenso e mirra e quello onde si pasce. 
Fazio degu Cberti, Dittamondo, in a gorgeous description o/ 
the Phoenix, lib ii. cap. v. 



172 THE\ISION. 112-143 

In chains invisible the powers of man, 
Who, risen from his trance, gazeth around, 3 
Bewilder'd with the monstrous agony 
He hath endured, and wildly staring sighs ; 
So stood aghast the sinner when he rose. 

Oh ! how severe God's judgment, that deals out 
Such blows in stormy vengeance. Who he was. 
My teacher next inquired ; and thus in few 
He answer'd : " Vanni Fucci 2 am I call'd, 
Not long since rained down from Tuscany 
To this dire gullet. Me the bestial life 
And not the human pleased, mule that I was, 
Who in Pistoia found my worthy den." 

I then to Virgil : " Bid him stir not henc e ; 
And ask what crime did thrust him hither : once 
A man I knew him, choleric and bloody." 

The sinner heard and feign'd not, but towards me 
His mind directing and his face, wherein 
Was dismal shame depictured, thus he spake : 
" It grieves me more to have been caught by thee 
In this sad plight, which thou beholdest, than 
When I was taken from the other life. 
I have no power permitted to deny 
What thou inquirest. I am doom'd thus low 
To dwell, for that the sacristy by me 
Was rifled of its goodly ornaments, 
And with the guilt another falsely charged. 
But that thou mayst not joy to see me thus, 
So as thou e'er shalt 'scape this darksome realm, 
Open thine ears and hear what I forebode. 
Reft of the Neri first Pistoia 3 pines ; 
Then Florence 4 changeth citizens and laws ; 

1 Ga:eth around.} 

Su mi levai senza far piii parole, 

Cogli occhi intorno stupido mirando, 
Si come l'Epilentico far suole. 

Frezzi, 11 Quadrir., lib. ii. cap. iii. 

2 Vanni Fucci.] He is said to have been an illegitimate 
uffspringof the family of Lazari in Pistoia, and, having robbed 
the sacristy of the church of St. James in that city, to have 
charged Vanni della Nona with the sacrilege ; in consequence 
of which accusation the latter suffered death. 

3 Pistoia.} " In May, 1301, the Bianchi party of Pistoia, 
•with the assistance and favor of the Bianchi, wh( ruled Flor 

ence, drove out the party of the Neri from the former place, 
destroying their houses, palaces, and farms." Giov. Villani, 
Hist., lib. viii. c. xliv. 

* Then Florence.] " Soon after the Bianchi will be ex- 
pelled from Florence, the Neri will prevail, and the laws and 
People will be changed." 



.44-150. HELL, Canto XXV. 17,3 

From Valdimagra, 1 drawn by wrathful Mars, 
A vapor rises, wrapt in turbid mists, 
And sharp and eager driveth on the storm 
With arrowy hurtling o'er Piceno's field, 
Whence suddenly the cloud shall burst, and strike 
Each helpless Bianco prostrate to the ground. 
This have I told, that grief may rend thy heart." 

CANTO XXV. 

ARGUMENT. 
The sacrilegious Fucci vents his fury in blasphemy, is seized 
by serpents, and flying is pursued by Uacus in the form of 
a Centaur, who is described with a swarm of serpents on 
his haunch, and a dragon on his shoulders breathing forth 
tire. Our Poet then meets with the spirits of three of his 
countrymen, two of whom undergo a marvellous transfor- 
mation in his presence. 

When he had spoke, the sinner raised his hands 2 
Pointed in mockery, and cried : " Take them, God ! 

1 From Faldimagra.] The commentators explain this pro- 
phetical threat to allude to the victory obtained by the Mar- 
quis Morello Malaspina of Valdimagra, (a tract of country 
now called the Lunigiana,) who put himself at the head of 
the Neri, and defeated their opponents, the Bianchi, in the 
Campo Piceno, near Pistoia, soon after the occurrence related 
in the preceding note on v. 14-2. Of this engagement I find no 
mention in Villani. Balbo (Vita di Dante, v. ii. p. 143) refers 
to Gerini, Memorie Storiche di Lunigiana, torn. ii. p. 123, for 
the whole history of this Morello, or Moroello. Currado Ma- 
laspina is introduced in the eighth Canto of the Purgatory ; 
where it appears, that although on the present occasion they 
espoused contrary sides, most important favors were never- 
theless conferred by that family on our Poet, at a subsequent 
period of his exile, in 1307. 
a His hands. \ 

Le mani alzb, con ambeduo le fiche. 
6t> Frezzi : 

E fe le fiche a Dio '1 superbo vermo. 

II Quadrir., lib. ii. cap xix. 
lo vidi l'ira poi con crudel faccia : 
E fe le fiche a Dio il mostro rio, 
Stringendo i denti ed alzando le braccia. 
lb. lib. iii. cap. x. 
And Trissino : 

Poi facea con le man le fiche al cielo 
Dicendo: Togli Iddio ; che puoi piu farmi? 

& Ital. Libcrata, c. xii. 
"The practice of thrusting out the thumb between the firsl 
and second fingers, to express the feelings of insult and con- 
tempt, has prevailed very generally among the nations of 
Europe, and for many ages had been denominated ' making 
the fig,' or described at least by some equivalent expression.' 
Donee's Illustrations of Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 492, ed. 1807 
The passage in the original text has not escaped this diligeru 
commentator. 



174 THE VISION. 3-4* 

I level them at thee." From that day forth 

The serpents were my friends ; for round his neck 

One of them rolling twisted, as it said, 

" Be silent, tongue !" Another, to his arms 

Upgliding, tied them, riveting itself 

So close, it took from them the power to move. 

Pistoia ! ah, Pistoia ! why dost doubt 
To turn thee into ashes, cumbering earth 
No longer, since in evil act so far 
Thou hast outdone thy seed I 1 I did not mark, 
Through all the gloomy circles of the abyss, 
Spirit, that swell'd so proudly 'gainst his God ; 
Not him, 2 who headlong fell from Thebes. He lied, 
Nor utter'd more ; and after him there came 
A- centaur full of fury, shouting, " Where, 
Where is the caitiff?" On Maremma's marsh 3 
Swarm not the serpent tribe, as on his haunch 
They swarm'd, to where the human face begins 
Behind his head, upon the shoulders, lay 
With open wings a dragon, breathing fire 
On whomsoe'er he met. To me my guide : 
" Cacus 4 is tins, who underneath the rock 
Of Aventine spread oft a lake of blood. 
He, from his brethren parted, here must tread 
A different journey, for his fraudful theft 
Of the great herd that near him stall'd ; whence found 
His felon deeds their end, beneath the mace 
Of stout Alcides, that perchance laid on 
A hundred blows, 5 and not the tenth was felt." 

While yet he spake, the centaur sped away . 
And under us three spirits came, of whom 
Nor I nor he was ware, till they exclaim'd, 
" Say who are ye !" We then brake off discourse 3 
Intent on these alone. I knew them not : 
But, as it chanceth oft, befell, that one 
Had need to name another. " Where," said he, 
" Doth Cianfa 6 lurk ?" I, or a sign my guide 
Should stand attentive, placed against my lips 

1 Thy seed.} Thy ancestry. 

2 JVot him.] Capaneus. Canto xiv 

3 On Maremma's marsh.] An extensive tract near the sea- 
shore of Tuscany. 

4 Cacus.] Virgil, JEn., lib. viii. 193. 

5 A hundred blows.] Less than ten blows, out of the hun- 
dred Hercules gave him, had deprived him of feeling. 

6 Cianfa.] fie is said to havp V*een of the family of DonafJ 
X Florence. 



41-65. HELL, Canto XXV. 175 

The linger lifted. If, O reader ! now 
Thou be not apt to credit what I tell, 
No marvel ; for myself do scarce allow 
The witness of mine eyes. But as I look'd 
Toward them, lo ! a serpent with six feet 
Springs forth on one, and fastens full upon him : 
His midmost grasp'd the belly, a forefoot 
Seized on each arm (while deep in either cheek 1 
He flesh'd his fangs) ; the hinder on the thighs 
Were spread, 'twixt which the tail inserted curl'd 
Upon the reins behind. Ivy ne'er clasp'd 2 
A dodder'd oak, as round the other's limbs 
The hideous monster intertwined his own. 
Then, as they both had been of burning wax, 
Each melted into other, mingling hues, 
That which was either now was seen no more. 
Thus up the shrinking paper, 3 ere it bums, 
A brown tint glides, not turning yet to black, 
And the clean white expires. The other two 
Look'd on, exclaiming, " Ah ! how dost thou change, 
Agnello ! 4 See ! Thou art nor double now, 
Nor only one." The two heads now became 
One, and two figures blended in one form 
Appear'd, where both were lost. Of the four lengths 
Two arms were made : the belly and the chest, 

1 In either cheek.] Ostendit mihi post hoc apostolus lacum 
magnum tetrum, et aquae sulphureae plenum, in quo anima- 
rum multitudo demersa est, plenum serpentibus ac scorpioni- 
bus ; stabant vero ibi et daemones serpentes tenentes et ora 
vultus et capita hominum cum eisdem serpentibus peicutien- 
tes. Alberici Visio, ^ 23. 

2 Ivy ne'er clasp' d.\ 

^O-Kota meads 6pvbg o~ag Trice? e£o[iai. 

Euripides, Hecuba, v. 10ii. 
Like ivy to an oak, how will I cling to her ! 
* Thus vp the shrinking- paper.} Many of the commentators 
suppose that by " papiro" is here meant the wick of a lamp 
or candle, andLombardi adduces an extract from Pier Cre- 
scenzio (Agricolt., lib. vi. cap. ix.) to show that this use was 
then made of the plant. But Tiraboschi has proved that pa- 
per made of linen came into use towards the latter half of the 
fourteenth century, and that the inventor of it was Pier da 
Fabiano, who carried on his manufactory in the city of Tre 
vigi; whereas paper of cotton, with, perhaps, some linen 
•nixed, was used during the twelfth century. Star, della Lett 
hal , torn. v. lib. i. cap. iv. sect. 4. 

All my bowels crumble up to dust. 

I am a scribbled form, drawn with a pen 
Upon a parchment ; and against this fire 
Do I shrink up. Shakspeare, K John, act v. sc. 7 

4 Agnello.] Agnello BrunelleschL 



176 THE VISION GS-1OT 

The thighs and legs, into such members changed 

As never eye hath seen. Of former shape 

Ail trace was vanislfid. Two. yet neither, seem'd 

That image miscreate, and so pass'd on 

With tardy steps. As underneath the see. 

Of the fierce dog-star that lays bare the fields. 

Shifting from brake to brake the lizard see 

A flash of lightning, if he thwart the road ; 

So toward the entrails of the other two 

Approaching seem'd an adder all on fire.. 

As the dark pepper-grain livid and swart 

In that part. 1 whence our life is nourish'd first. 

One he transpierced : then down before I 

Stretched out. The pierced spirit look'd on him, 

But spake not : yea. stood motionless and yawn"d. 

As if by sleep or feverous fit assail'd. 3 

He eyed the serpent, and the serpent him. 

One from the wound, the other from the mouth 

Breathed a thick smoke, whose vapor}- columns ;o : n'd 

Lucan 3 in mute attention now n 
_\or thy disastrous fate. Sabellus. tell, 
Xor thine. Xasidius. Ovid 4 now be mute 
What if in warbling fiction he record 
Cadmus and Arethusa. to a snake 
Kim changed, and her into a fountain clear, 
I envy not : for never face to face 
Two natures thus transmuted did he i 
Wherein both shapes were ready to assume 
Tiie other'- :■, They in mutual guise 

So answer'd. that the serpent split his train 
Divided to a fork, and the pierced s. 
Drew close his steps together, legs and thi . 
Compacted., that no sign of June 
Was visible : the tail, disparted] 
The figure which the spirit lost : its skin 
Softening, his indurated to a rind. 
The shoulders next I mark'd. that entering joiird 

1 In that part.] 3 

- ,3 s if by sleep or feverous jit assaiTd.] 

O Rome : Thy head 

Is drown'd in sleep, and all thy body fev'ry. 

Ben Jons on's Catiline. 

* Luczn.] Phars.. lib. is. 766 and 793. 

Lu> : i i questi poetando 

Coma si come Sabello e Nasidio 
Fu pn rmati ivi passando. 

Fazco tiegli Uberti. Dittamondo, 1. v cap. i?ii 

* Orid.\ Metam., lib. iv. and v 



103-138. HELL, Canto XXV. 177 

The monster's arm-pits, whose two shoner feet 

So lengthen'd, as the others dwindling shrunk 

The feet behind them twisting up became 

That part that man conceals, which in the wretch 

Was cleft in twain. While both the shadow}" smok* 

With a new color veils, and generates 

The excrescent pile on one, peeling it off 

From the other body, lo ! upon his feet 

One upright rose, and prone the other fell. 

Not yet their glaring and malignant lamp? 

Were shifted, though each feature changed beneath. 

Of him who stood erect, the mounting face 

Retreated towards the temples, and what there 

Superfluous matter came, shot out in ears [dragg'J, 

From the smooth cheeks ; the rest, not backward 

Of its excess did shape the nose ; and swell"d 

Into due size protuberant the lips. 

He, on the earth who lay, meanwhile extends 

His sharpen'd visage, 1 and draws down the ears 

Into the head, as doth the slug his horns. 

His tongue, continuous before and apt 

For utterance, severs ; and the other's fork 

Closing unites. That done, the smoke was laid. 

The soul, transform'd into the brute, glides off, 

Hissing along the vale, and after him 

The other talking sputters ; but soon tunrd 

His new-grown shoulders on him, and in few 

Thus to another spake : " Along this path 

Crawling, as I have done, speed Buoso 2 now ! ? ' 

So saw I fluctuate in successive change 
The unsteady ballast of the seventh hold : 
And here if aught my pen 3 have swerved, events 
So strange may be its warrant. O'er mine eyes 
Confusion hung, and on my thoughts amaze. 

Yet scaped they not so covertly, but well 
I mark'd Sciancato : 4 he alone it was 

1 His sharpened visage.] Compare Milton, P. L., b. x. 511, &c 

2 Buoso.] He is also said by some to have been of th.6 
Donati family; but by others of the Abbati. 

3 My pen.] Lombardi justly prefers "la penna" to "la 
lingua;" but, when he tells us that the former is in the 
Nidobeatina, and the latter in the other editions, he ought to 
have excepted at least Landino's of 1484, and Vellutello's of 
1544, and, perhaps, many besides these. 

4 Sciancato.] Puccio Sciancato. a noted robber, whose fam- 
ily. Venturi says, he has not been able to discover. The 
Latin annotator on the Monte Cassino MS. informs us that he 
was one of the Galigai of Florence, the decline of whisa 
house is mentioned in the Paradise, Canto xvi. 96. 



178 THE VISION. 139,140 

Of the three first that came, who changed not : thou 
The other's fate, Gaville I 1 still dost rue. 

CANTO XXVI. 

ARGUMENT. 

Remounting by the steps, down which they had descended to 
the seventh gulf, they go forward to the arch that stretches 
over the eighth, and from thence behold numberless flamei 
wherein are punished the evil counsellors, each flame con- 
taining a sinner, save one, in which were Diomede and 
Ulysses, the latter of whom relates the manner of Ins ieath 

Florence, exult ! for thou so mightily 
Hast thriven, that o'er land and sea 2 thy wings 
Thou beatest, and thy name spreads over hell. 
Among the plunderers, such the three I found 
Thy citizens ; whence shame to me thy son, 
And no proud honor to thyself redounds. 

But if our minds, 3 when dreaming near the dawn, 
Are of the truth presageful, thou ere long 
Shalt feel what Prato 4 (not to say the rest) 
Would fain might come upon thee ; and that chance 
Were in good time, if it befell thee now. 
Would so it were, since it must needs befall ! 
For as time 5 wears me, I shall grieve the more. 

We from the depth departed ; and my guide 

1 Gaville.] Francesco Guercio Cavalcante was killed at 
Gaville, near Florence ; and in revenge of his death several 
inhabitants of that district were put to death. 

2 O'er land and sea.] 

For he can spread thy name o'ei lands and seas. 

Milton, Son. viii 

3 But if our minds.] 

Namque sub Auroram, jam dormitante lucerna, 
Somnia quo cerni tempore vera solent. 

Ovid, Epist. xix. 
The same poetical superstition is alluded to in the Purga 
tory, Canto ix. and xxvii. 

4 Shalt feel what Prato.] The poet prognosticates the ca 
lamities which were soon to befall his native city, and which, 
he says, even her nearest neighbor, Prato, would wish her 
The calamities more particularly pointed at are said to be the 
fall of a wooden bridge over the Arno, in May, 1304, where a 
large multitude were assembled to witness a representation 
of hell and the infernal torments, in consequence of which 
accident many lives were lost ; and a conflagration, that in 
the following month destroyed more than seventeen hun- 
dred houses, many of them sumptuous buildings. See G. 
Villani, Hist., lib. viii. c. lxx. and lxxi. 

5 As time.] " I shall feel all calamities more sensibly as 1 
wn farther advanced in life." 



15-47 HELL, Canto XXVI. 179 

Remounting scaled the flinty steps, 1 wh.ch /ato 
We downward traced, and drew me up the, steep 
Pursuing iras our solitary w-ay 
Among the crags and splinters of the rock, 
Sped not our feet without the help of hands. 

Then sorrow seized me, which e'en now revives, 
As my thought turns again to what I saw, 
And, more than I am wont, 2 I rein and curb 
The powers of nature in me, lest they run 
Where Virtue guides not ; that, if aught of good 
My gentle -nar or something better gave me, 
I envy not myself the precious boon. 

As in that season, when the sun least veLs 
His face that lightens all, what time the fly 
Gives way to the shrill gnat, the peasant then. 
L"pon some cliff reclined, beneath him sees 
Fire-flies innumerous spangling o'er the vale, 
Vineyard or tilth, where his day-labor lies ; 
With flames so numberless throughout its space 
Shone the eighth chasm, apparent, when the depth 
Was to my view exposed. As he, whose wrongs 3 
The bears avenged, at its departure saw 
Elijah's chariot, when the steeds erect [while. 

Raised their steep flight for heaven ; his eyes, mean- 
Straining pursued them, till the flame alone, 
Upsoaring like a misty speck, he kenn'd : 
E'en thus along the gulf moves every flame, 
A sinner so enfolded close in each, 
That none exhibits token of the theft. 

Upon the bridge I forward bent to look, 
And grasp'd a flinty mass, or else had fallen, 
Though push'd not from the height. The guide, who 
How I did gaze attentive, thus began : [mark'd 



3 The flinty steps.] Venturi, after Daniello and Vol pi, ex- 
plains the word in the original, " borni," to mean the stones 
that project from a wall, for other buildings to be joined to, 
which the workmen call " toothings." 

2 Jlore than I am wont.] " When I reflect on the punish- 
ment allotted to those whq do not give sincere and upright 
advice to others, I am more anxious than ever not to abuse 
to so bad a purpose those talents, whatever they may be, 
which Nature, or rather Providence, has conferred on me." 
It is probable that this declaration was the result of real 
feeling in the mind of Dante, whose political character would 
have given great weight to any opinion or party he had es- 
poused, and to whom indigence and exile might have offered 
strong temptations to deviate from that line of conduct which 
a strict sense of duty prescribed. 

3 As he whose wrongs.] Kings, b ii. c. ii. 



180 THE VISION. 43-15. 

" Within these ardors are the spirits, eacn 

Swathed in confining fire." — " Master ! thy word 

I answer'd, " hath assured me ; yet I deem'd 

Already of the truth, already wish'd 

To ask thee who is in yon fire, that cornea 

So parted at the summit, as it seem'd 

Ascending from that funeral pile 1 where lay 

The Theban brothers." He replied: " Within 

Ulysses there and Diomede endure 

Their penal tortures, thus to vengeance now 

Together hasting, as ere while to wrath. 

These in the flame with ceaseless groans depiore 

The ambush of the horse, 2 that open'd wide 

A portal for that goodly seed to pass, 

Which sow'd imperial Rome ; nor less the guile 

Lament they, whence, of her Achilles 'reft, 

Deidamia yet in death complains. 

And there is rued the stratagem that Troy 

Of her Palladium spoil'd." — " If they have power 

Of utterance from within these sparks," said I, 

" O, master ! think my prayer a thousand fold 

In repetition urged, that thou vouchsafe 

To pause till here the horned flame arrive 

See, how toward it with desire I bend." 

He thus : " Thy prayer is worthy of much praise 
And I accept it therefore ; but do thou 
Thy tongue refrain : to question them be mine ; 
For I divine thy wish ; and they perchance, [thee." 
For they were Greeks, 3 might shun discourse with 

When there the flame had come, where time and 
Seem'd fitting to my guide, he thus began : [place 

1 Jlscending from that funeral pile.] The flame is said to 
have divided on the funeral pile which consumed the bodies 
of Eteocles ar.d Polynices, as if conscious of the enmity that 
actuated them while living. 

Ecce iterum fratris primos ut contigit artus 
Ignis edax, tremuere rogi, et novus advena busto 
Pellitur, exundant diviso \ertice flammai, 
Alternosque apices abrupta luce coruscant. 

Statins, Theb., lib. xii. 
Compare Lucan, Pharsal., lib. 1. 145. 

2 The ambush of the horse.] " The ambush of the wooden 
horse, that caused iEneas to quit the city of Troy and seek 
his fortune in Italy, where his descendants founded the Ro- 
man empire." 

3 For they were Greeks.] By this it is, perhaps, implied 
that they were haughty and arrogant. So, in our Poet's 
twenty-fourth Sonnet, of which a translation is inserted in 
tiie Life prefixed, he says, 

Ed ella mi rispose, :ome un Greco 



79-113. HELL, Canto XXVI. igj 

" O ye, wlio dwell two spirits in one fire ! 

If, living, I of you did merit aught. 

Whatever the measure were of that desert, 

When in the world my lofty strain I pour'd, 

.Move ye not on, till one of you unfold 

In what clime death o'ertook him self-destroy'd. 1 ' 

Of the old flame forthwith the greater horn 
Began to roll, murmuring, as a fire 
That labors with the wind, then to and fro 
Wagging the top, as a tongue uttering sounds, 
Threw out its voice, and spake : " When I escaped 
From Circe, who beyond a circling year 
Had held me near Caieta 1 by her charms, 
Ere thus iEneas yet had named the shore ; 
Nor fondness for my son, 2 nor reverence 
Of my old father, nor return of love, 
That should have crown d Penelope with joy, 
Could overcome in me the zeal I had 
To explore the world, and search the ways of life. 
Man's evil and his virtue. Forth I sail'd 
Into the deep illimitable main, 
With but one bark, end the small faithful band 
That yet cleaved to me. As Iberia far, 
Far as Marocco, either shore I saw, 
And the Sardinian and each isle beside 
Which round that ocean bathes. Tardy with age 
Were I and my companions, when we came 
To the strait pass, 3 where Hercules ordain'd 
The boundaries not to be o'erstepp'd by man. 
The walls of Seville to my right I left, 
On the other hand already Ceuta pass'd. 
1 O brothers !' I began, ' who to the west 

* Through perils without number now have reached 
1 To this the short remaining watch, that yet 

* Our senses have to wake, refuse not proof 

i Caieta.] Virgil, iEneid, lib. vii. 1. 

i .Vor fondness for my son.] Imitated by Tasso, G. L., C 
viii. st. 7. 

Ne timor di fatica b di periglio, 
Ne vaghezza del regno, ne pietade 
Del vecchio genitor, si degno afletto 
Intiepedir nel generoso petto. 
This imagined voyage of Ulysses into the Atlantic is alio 
ied to by Pulci : 

E soprarutto commendava Ulisse, 
Che per veder nell' altro mondo gisse. 

Jtlorg. J\Iagg. t c xxv 
*nd by Tas?o, G. L., c. xv. 25. 
3 The strait pass.] The straits of Gibraltar 
16 



182 THE VISION. i.4-13a 

'Of the unpeopled world, following the track 
Of Phoebus. Call to mind from whence ye sprang 
Ye were not form'd to live the life of brutes, 
But virtue to pursue and knowledge high.' 
With these few words I sharpen'd for the voyage 
The mind of my associates, that I then 
Could scarcely have withheld them. To the dawn 
Our poop we turn'd, and for the witless flight 
Made our oars wings, 1 still gaining on the left. 
Each star of the other pole night now beheld, 2 
And ours so low, that from the ocean floor 
It rose not. Five times re-illumed, as oft 
Vanish'd the light from underneath the moon, 
Since the deep way we enter'd, when from far 
Appear'd a mountain dim, 3 loftiest methought 
Of all I e'er beheld. Joy seized us straight ; 
But soon to mourning changed. From the new haul 
A whirlwind sprung, and at her foremost side 
Did strike the vessel. Thrice 4 it whirl'd her round 
With all the waves ; the fourth time lifted up 
The poop, and sank the prow : so fate decreed : 
And over us the booming billow closed." 5 

1 JUade our oars icings.] 

Ol'<5' ebfjpz Eperfxa } rd re rrrepd vrjval TTtXovrai. 

Horn. Od., xi. ]34 
So Chiabrera, Canz. Eroiche., xiii. 

Farb de' remi un volo. 
And Tasso, Ibid., 26. 

Wight now beheld.] Petrarch is here cited by Lombardi : 

Xe la su sopra il cerchio della luna 

Vide mal tante s telle alcuna notte. Canz. xxxvii. I. 

Nor there above the circle of the moon 

Did ever night behold so many stars. 

3 A mountain dim.] The mountain of Purgatory. — Amotg 
the various opinions of theologians respecting the situation 
of the terrestrial paradise, Pietro Lombardo relates, that " it 
was separated by a long space, either of sea or land from the 
regions inhabited by men, and placed in the ocean reaching 
as far as to the lunar circle, so that the waters of the deluge 
d'd not reach it." Sent., lib. ii. dist. 17. Thus Lombardi. 

4 Tkrice.l 

Ast ilium ter fluctus ibidem 

Torquet agens circum, et rapidus vorat sequore vortex. 

Virg. JEn., lib. i. II f 
s Closed.] Venturi refers to Pliny and Solinus for the 
opinion that Ulysses was the founder of Lisbon, from whence 
he thinks it was easy for the fancy of a poet to send him on 
fet further enterprises. Perhaps the story (which it is not 
unlikely that our author will be found to have borrowed 
from some legend of the middle ages') may have taken its 



1-31 HELL, Canto XX\ r IL 183 

CANTO XXVII. 

ARGUMENT. 
The Poet, treating of the same punishment as in the last 
Canto, relates that he turned towards a flame in which \ras 
the Count Guido da Montefeltro. whose inquiries respecting 
the state of Romagna he answers ; and Guido is thereby 
induced to declare who he is, and why condemned to that 
torment. 

Now upward rose the flame, and stilPd its light 
To speak no more, and now pass'd on with leave 
From the mild poet gaiivd ; when following came 
Another, from whose top a sound confused, 
Forth issuing, drew our eyes that way to look. 

As the Sicilian bull, 1 that rightfully 
Hi§ cries first echoed who had shaped its mould, 
Did so rebellow, with the voice of him 
Tormented, that the brazen monster seem'd 
Pierced through with pain ; thus, while no w T ay they 
Nor avenue immediate through the flame, [found, 
Into its language turn'd the dismal words : 
But soon as they had won their passage forth, 
Up from the point, which vibrating obey'd 
Their motion at the tongue, these sounds were heard : 
" O thou ! to whom I now direct my voice, 
That lately didst exclaim in Lombard phrase 
' Depart thou ; I solicit thee no more ;' 
Though somewhat tardy I perchance arrive, 
Let it not irk thee here to pause awhile, 
And with me parley : lo ! it irks not me, 
And yet I burn. If but e'en now thou fall 
Into this blind world, from that pleasant land 
Of Latium, whence I draw my sum of guilt, 
Tell me if those who in Romagna dwell 
Have peace or war. For of the mountains there* 
Was I, betwixt Urbino and the height 
Whence Tiber first unlocks his mighty flood." 

Leaning I listen'd, yet with heedful ear, 
When, as he touch'd my side, the leader thus : 
" Speak thou : he is a Latian." My reply 

rise partly from the obscure oracle returned by the ghost of 
Tiresias to Ulysses, (see the eleventh book of the Odyssey,) 
and partly from the fate which there was reason to suppose 
had befallen some adventurous explorers of the Atlantic 
ocean. 

l The Sicilian bull.] The engine of torture invented bj 
Perillns, for the tyrant Phalaris. 

a Of the mountains there.] Montefeltro 



184 THE VISION. 32- i\ 

Was ready, and I spake without delay : 
" O spirit ! who art hidden here below, 
Never was thy Romagna without war 
In her proud tyrants' bosoms, nor is now : 
But open war there left I none. The state, 
Ravenna hath maintain'd this many a year, 
Is steadfast. There Polenta's eagle 1 broods : 
And in his broad circumference of plume 
O'ershadows Cervia. The green talons grasp 
The land, 2 that stood ere while the proof so long, 



1 Polenta's eagle. J Guido Novello da Polenta, who 'x>re aa 
eagle for his coat of arms. The name of Polenta was de 
rived from a castle so called, in the neighborhood of Brit- 
tonoro. Cervia is a small maritime city, about fifteen miles 
to the south of Ravenna. Guido was the son of Ostasio da 
Polenta, and made himself master of Ravenna in 1265. In 
1322 he was deprived of his sovereignty, and died at Bologna 
in the year following. This last and most munificent patron 
of Dante is himself enumerated, by the historian of Italian 
literature, among the poets of his time. Tiraboschi, Storia 
della Lett. Ital., torn. v. lib. iii., c. ii. sect. 13. The passage in 
the text might have removed the uncertainty which Tira- 
boschi expressed, respecting the duration of Guido's absence 
from Ravenna, when he was driven from that city in 1295. by 
the arms of Piet.ro, archbishop of Monreale. It must evidently 
have been very short, since his government is here repre" 
sented (in 1300) as not having suffered any material disturb 
ance for many years. 

In the Proemium to the Annotations on the Decameron ot 
Boccaccio, written by those who were deputed to that work. 
Ediz. Giunti, 1573, it is said of Guido Novello, "del quale si 
leggono ancora alcune composizioni, per poche che elle sieno, 
secondo quel la eta, belle e leggiadre :" and in the collection 
edited by Allacci at Naples, 1661, p. 382, is a sonnet of his-, 
which breathes a high and pure spirit of Platonism. 

Among the MSS. of the Iliad in the Ambrosian library at 
Milan, described by Mai, there is one that was in the posses- 
sion of Guido. fliadis Fragmenta, ($-c, fol. Jlfediol., 1819 
Procemium. p. xlviii. It was, perhaps., seen by Dante. 

To this account 1 must now subjoin that which has since 
been given, but without any reference to authorities, by 
Troya : " In the course of eight years, from 1310 to 1310, 
Guido III. of Polenta, father of Fra'ncesca, together with his 
sons Bernardino and Ostasio. had died. A third son, named 
Bannino, was father of Guido IV. Of these two it is not 
known whether they held the lordship of Ravenna. But it 
came to the sons of Ostasio, Guido V., called Novello, and 
Rinaldo, the archbishop: on the sons of Bernardino devolved 
the sovereignty of the neighboring city of Cervia." 

Veltro JUlegorico di Dcnte, ed. 1826, p. 176. 

2 The land.] The territory of Forli, the inhabitants of 
which, in 1282, were enabled, by the stratagem of Guido da 
Montefeltro, who then governed it, to defeat with greai 
slaughter the French army by which it had been besieged 
See G. Villani, lib. vii. c. 81. The Poet informs Guido, ita 
former ruler, that, it is now in the possession cf Sinibald? 



4*-68. HELL, Canto XXVII. 185 

And piled in bloody heap the host of France. 

" The old mastiff of Verruchio and the young, 1 
That tore Montagna 2 in their wrath, still make, 
Where they are wont, an augre of their fangs. 

" Lamone's city, and Santerno's, 3 range 
Under the lion of the snowy lair, 4 
Inconstant partisan, that changeth sides, 
Or ever summer yields to winters frost. 
And she, whose flank is wash'd of Savio's wave, 3 
As 'twixt the level and the steep she lies, 
Lives so 'twixt tyrant power and liberty. 

" Now tell us, I entreat thee, who art thou : 
Be not more hard than others. In the world, 
So may thy name still rear its forehead high." 

Then roard awhile the fire, its sharpen'd point 
On either side waved, and thus breathed at last : 
" If I did think my answer were to one 
Who ever could return unto the world, 
This flame should rest unshaken. But since ne'er 
If true be told me, any from this depth 
Has found his upward way, I answer thee, 
Nor fear lest infamy record the words. 

" A man of arms 6 at first, I clothed me then 
In good Saint Francis' girdle, hoping so 
To have made amends. And certainly my hope 
Had fail'd not, but that he, whom curses light on, 
The high priest, 7 again seduced me into sin. 

Ordolaffi, or Ardeiafli, whom he designai.es by his coat of 
arms, a lion vert. 

1 The old mastiff of Verruchio and the young.] Malatesta, 
and Malatestino his son, lords of Rimini, called, from their 
ferocity, the mastiffs of Verruchio, which was the name of 
their castle. Malatestino was, perhaps, the husband of Fran- 
cesca, daughter of Guido da Polenta. See Notes to Canto 
v. 113. 

2 J\Ionta<rna.'\ Montagna de' Parcitati, a noble knight, and 
leader of the Ghibelline party at Rimini, murdered by Mala- 
testino. 

3 Lamone's city and Santerno's.] Lamone is tne river at 
Faenza, and Santerno at Imola. 

4 The lion of the snowy lair.] Machinardo Pagano, whose 
flrms were a lion azure on a field argent ; mentioned again in 
the Purgatory, Canto xiv. 122. See G. Villani passim, where 
he is called Machinardo da Susinana. 

5 Whose flank is washed of Savio's wave.] Cesena, situated 
at the foot of a mountain, and washed by the river Savio, 
that often descends with a swollen and rapid stream from th* 
Apennine. 

6 A man of arms.] Guido da Montefeltro. 

7 T) e high priest.] Boniface VIII. 



186 THE VISION. 69-81 

And how, and wherefore, listen while I tell 
Long as this spirit moved the bones and pulp 
My mother gave me, less my deeds bespake 
The nature of the lion than the fox. 1 
All ways of winding subtlety I knew, 
And with such art conducted, that the sound 
Reach'd the world's limit. Soon as to that pari 
Of life I found me come, when each behooves 
To lower sails 2 and gather in the lines : 
That, which before had pleased me, then I rued, 
And to repentance and confession turn'd, 
Wretch that I was ; and well it had bestead .rift. 
The chief of the new Pharisees 3 meantime, 

1 The nature of the lion than the fox, ,] 

Non furo\ leonine ma di volpe. 
So Pulci. Morg. Ma^g., c. xix. : — 

E furon le sue opre e le sue colpe 

Non creder leonine ma di volpe. 
Fraus quasi vulpeculae, vis leonis videtur. Cicero de Officiis 
lib. i. c. 13. 

2 To lower sails.] Our Poet had the same train of though! 
as when he wrote that most beautiful passage in his Convito, 
beginning U E qui e da sapere, che siccome dice Tullio in 
quello di Senettute, la naturale morte," &c, p. 209. " As it 
hath been said by Cicero, in his treatise on old age, natural 
death is like a port and haven to us after a long voyage ; and 
even as the good mariner, when he draws near the port, 
lowers his sails, and enters it softly with a weak and inof- 
fensive motion, so ought we to lower the sails of onr worldly 
operations, and to return to God with all our understanding 
and heart, to the end that we may reach this haven with all 
quietness and with all peace. And herein we are mightily 
instructed by nature in a lesson of mildness ; for in such a 
death itself there is neither pain nor bitterness; but, as ripe 
fruit is lightly and without violence loosened from its branch, 
so our soul without grieving, departs from the body in which 
it hath been." 

So mayst thou live, till like rips fruit thou drop 
Into thy mother's lap, or be with ease 
Gather'd, not harshly pluck'd, for death mature. 

Milton, T. L., b. xi. 537. 

3 The chief of the new Pharisees.] Boniface VIIL, whose 
enmity to the family of Colonna, prompted him to destroy 
their houses near the Lateran. Wishing to obtain possession 
of their other seat, Penestrino, he consulted with Guido da 
Montefeltro how he might accomplish his purpose, offering 
him at the same time absolution for his past sins, as well 
as for that which he was then tempting him to commit. 
Suido's advice was, that kind words and fair promises would 
put his enemies into his power ; and they accordingly soon 
afterwards fell into the snare laid for them, A. D. 1298. See 
G. Villani, lib. viii. c. 23. 

There is a relation similar to this in the history of Ferreto 
Vincentino, lib. ii. anno 1294; and the writer adds, that our 
?oet had justly condemned Guido to the torments he has 



32-93. HELL, Canto XXVTI. \& 

Waging his warfare near the Lateran, 

Not with the Saracens or Jews, (his foes 

All Christians were, nor against Acre one 

Had fought, 1 nor trafficked in the Soldan's laud) 

He, his great charge nor sacred ministry, 

In himself reverenced, nor in me that cord 

Which used to mark with leanness whom it girded 

As in Soracte, Constantine besought, 2 

To cure his leprosy, Sylvester's aid ; 

So me, to cure the fever of his pride, 

This man besought : my counsel to that end 

He ask'd ; and I tvas silent ; for his words 

Seem'd drunken : but forthwith he thus resumei : 

* From thy heart banish fear : of all offence 
! I hitherto absolve thee. In return, 

1 Teach me my purpose so to execute, 

* That Penestrino cumber earth no more. 



allotted him. See Muratori, Script. Ital., torn. ix. p. 970, 
where the editor observes : " Probosi hujus facinoris narra- 
tioni fiderri adjungere nemo probus velit, quod facile confmxer- 
int Bonifacii scmuli," &c. And indeed it would seem as if 
Dante himself had either not heard, or had not believed, the 
report of Guido's having sold himself thus foolishly to the 
Pope, when he wrote the passage in the Convito cited in the 
note to v. 76 ; for he soon after speaks of him as one of those 
noble spirits " who, when they approached the last haven, 
lowered the sails of their worldly operations, and gave them- 
selves up to religion in their old age, laying aside every world- 
ly delight and wish." 

1 JVor against Acre one 

Had fought.] He alludes to the renegade Christians, by 
whom the Saracens, in April, 1291, were assisted to recover 
St. John d'Acre, the last possession of the Christians in the 
Holy Land. The regret expressed by the Florentine annalist, 
G. Villani, for the loss of this valuable fortress, is well worthy 
of obsers?.ti in, lib. vii. c. 144. " From this event Christendom 
guffered the greatest detriment : for by the loss of Acre there 
no longer remained in the Holy Land any footing for the 
Christians ; and all our good maritime places of trade never 
afterwards derived half the advantage from their merchan- 
dise and manufactures ; so favorable was the situation of the 
city of Acre, in the very front of our sea, in the middle of 
Syria, and as it were in the middle of the inhabited world, 
seventy miles from Jerusalem, both source and receptacle of 
every kind of merchandise, as well from the east as from the 
west ; the resort of all people from all countries, and of the 
eastern nations of every different tongue ; so that it might be 
considered as the aliment of the world." 

2 As in Soracte, Constantine besought.'] So in Dante's trea- 
tise De Monarchia: "Dicunt quidam aclhuc, quod Constan- 
tinus Imperator, mundatus a lepra intercessione Sylvestri, 
tunc summi pontificis, imperii sedem, scilicet Romam, donavi* 
ecclesien, cum multis aliis imperii dignitatibus." Lib. iii. Com- 
pare Fazio degli Uberti, Dittamondo, lib. ii. cap. xii. 



188 THE VISION. 99-13S 

r Heaven, as thm knowest, I have no powei to shut 
' And open ; and the keys are therefore twain, 
J The which my predecessor 1 meanly prized,' 

" Then, yielding to the forceful arguments, 
Of silence as more perilous I deem'd, 
And answer d : ' Father ! since thou washest me 
1 Clear of that guilt wherein I now must fall, 
i Large promise with performance scant, be sure, 
' Shall make thee triumph in thy lofty seat.' 

" When I was number'd with the dead, then came 
Saint Francis for me ; but a cherub dark 
He met, who cried : ' Wrong me not ; he is mine, 
' And must below to join the wretched crew, 
' For the deceitful counsel which he gave. 
•' E'er since I watch'd him, hovering at his hair 
i No power can the impenitent absolve ; 
4 Nor to repent, and will, at once consist, 
4 By contradiction absolute forbid.' 
Oh misery ! how I shook myself, when he 
Seized me, and cried, ' Thou haply thought'st me not 
4 A disputant in logic so exact !' 
To Minos down he bore me ; and the judge 
Twined eight times round his callous back the tail, 
Which biting with excess of rage, he spake : 
i This is a guilty soul, that in the fire 
s Must vanish.' Hence, perdition-dooixrd, I rove 
A prey to rankling sorrow, in this garb." 

When he had thus fulfill'd his words, the flame 
In dolor parted, beating to and fro, 
And writhing its sharp horn. W T e onward went, 
I and my leader, up along the rock, 
Far as another arch, that overhangs 
The foss, wherein the penalty is paid 
Of those who load them with committed sin. 



CANTO XXVIII. 

ARGUMENT. 

They arrive in the ninth gulf, where the sowers of scandal, 
schismatics, and heretics, are seen with their limbs misera 
bly maimed or divided in different ways. Among these the 
Poet finds Mahomet, Piero da Medicini, Curio, Mosca, and 
Bertrand de Born. 

Who, e'en in words unfetter'd, might at full 
Tell of the wounds and blood that now I saw, 
Though he repeated oft the tale ? No tongue 

1 My predecessor.] Celestine V. See Notes to Canto iii. 



4-17. HELL, Canto XXVIII. 189 

So vast a theme could equal, speech and thought 
Both impotent alike. If in one hand 
Collected, stood the people all, who e'er 
Pour'd on Apulia's happy soil 1 their blood, 
Slain by the Trojans, 2 and in that long war, 3 
When of the rings 4 the measured booty made 
A. pile so high, as Rome's historian writes 
Who errs not ; with the multitude, that felt 
Thb griding force of Guiscard's Norman steel, 5 
And those the rest, 6 whose bones are gather'd yet 
At Ceperano, there where treachery 
Branded the Apulian name, or where beyond 
Thy walls, O Tagliacozzo, 7 without arms 
The old Alardo conquer d ; and his limbs 



1 Happy soil.] There is a strange discordance here among 
the expounders. " Fortunata terra." Because of the vicis- 
situdes of fortune which it experienced : Landino. Fortu- 
nate, with respect to those who conquered in it: Vellutello. 
Or on account of its natural fertility : Venturi. The context 
requires that we should understand, by "fortunata," "ca- 
lamitous," "disgraziata," to which sense the word is extended 
in the Vocabulary of La Crusca: Lombardi. Volpi is silent. 

On this note the late Archdeacon Fisher favored me with 
the following remark: "Volpi is, indeed, silent at the pas- 
sage; but in the article 'Puglia,' in his second Index, he 
writes, Dante la chiama fortunata, cioe pingue e feconda. 
This is your own translation ; and is the same word in mean- 
ing with si)daifiu)v and felix, in Xenophon's Anabasis and 
Horace passim." 

2 The Trojans.] Some MSS. have " Romani ;" and Lom- 
bardi has admitted it into the text. Venturi had, indeed, be- 
fore met. with the same reading in some edition, but he has 
not told us in which. 

3 In that long war.] The war of Hannibal in Italy. " When 
Mago brought news of his victories to Carthage, in order to 
make his successes more easily credited, he commanded the 
golden rings to be poured out in the senate-house, which 
made so large a heap, that, as some relate, they rilled three 
nodii and a half. A more probable account represents them 
BOt to have exceeded one modius." Livy, Hist., lib. xxiii. 12. 

4 The rings.] So Frezzi : 

Non quella, che riempie i moggi d'anella. 

II Quadi-ir., lib. ii. cap. 9. 

£ Guiscard's JVorman steel.] Robert Guiscard, who con 
qaered the kingdom of Naples, and died in 1110. G. Villani, 
lib. iv. cap. 18. He is introduced in the Paradise, Canto xviii. 

s And those the rest.] The army of Manfredi, which, through 
the treachery of the Apulian troops, was overcome by Charles 
of Anjou in 1265, and fell in such numbers, that the bones oi 
the slain were still gathered near Ceperano. G. Villani, lib. 
rii. cap. 9. See the Purgatory, Canto iii. 

"■ O Tagliacozzo.] He alludes to the victory which Charles 
pained over Con "adino, by the sage advice of the Sieur do 
Valeri in 1268. G. Villani. lib. vii. c. 27. 



190 THE VISION. 18-W 

One were to show transpierced, anolhei nis 
Clean lopp'd away ; a spectacle like this 
Were but a thing of naught, to the hideous sight 
Of the ninth chasm. A rundlet, that hath lost 
Its middle or side stave, gapes not so wide 
As one I mark'd, torn from the chin throughout 
Down to the hinder passage : 'twixt the legs 
Dangling his entrails hung, the midriff lay 
Open to view, and wretched ventricle, 
That turns the englutted aliment to dross. 

While eagerly I fix on him my gaze, 
He eyed me, with his hands laid his breast bare, 
And cried, " Now mark how I do rip me : lo ! 
How is Mahomet mangled : before me 
Walks Ali 1 weeping, from the chin his face 
Cleft to the forelock ; and the others all, 
Whom here thou seest, while they lived, did sow 
Scandal and schism, and therefore thus are rent. 
A fiend is here behind, who with his sword 
Hacks us thus cruelly, slivering again 
Each of this ream, when we have compass'd round 
The dismal way ; for first our gashes close 
Ere we repass before him. But, say who 
Art thou, that standest musing on the rock, 
Haply so lingering to delay the pain 
Sentenced upon thy crimes." — " Him death not yet/' 
My guide rejoin'd, " hath overtaken, nor sin 
Conducts to torment ; but, that he may male 
Full trial of your state, I who am dead 
Must through the depths of hell, from orb to orb, 
Conduct him. Trust my words ; for they are true. ,J 

More than a hundred spirits, when that they heard; 
Stood in the foss to mark me, through amaze 
Forgetful of their pangs. " Thou, who perchance 
Shalt shortly view the sun, this warning thou 
Bear to Dolcino : 2 bid him, if he wish not 

1 Ali.'] The disciple of Mahomet, 

2 Dolcino.] " In 1305,. a friar, called Dolcino, who belonged 
to no regular order, contrived to raise in Novara, in Lom- 
bardy, a large company of the meaner sort )f people, decla- 
ring himself to be a true apostle of Christ, and promulgating 
a community of property and of wives, with many other 
such heretical doctrines. He blamed the pope, cardinals, 
and other prelates of the holy church, for not observing their 
duty, nor leading the angelic life, and affirmed that he ought 
to be pope. He was followed by more than three thousand 
fnen and women, who lived promiscuously on the mountains 
together, like beasts, and, when they wanted provisions, 
mpplied themselves by depredation and rapine. This lasted 



54-75. HELL, Canto XXVIII. 19] 

Here soon to follow me, that with good store 

Of food he arm him, lest imprisoning snows 

Yield him a victim to Novara's power ; 

No easy conquest else f 3 with foot upraised 

For stepping, spake Mahomet, on the ground 

Then fix'd it to depart. Another shade, 

Pierced in the throat, his nostrils mutilate 

E'en from beneath the eyebrows, and one ear 

Lopp'd off, who, with the rest, through wonder stood 

Gazing, before the rest advanced, and bared 

His wind-pipe, that without was all o'ersmear'd 

With crimson stain. " O thou ! ; ' said he, " whom sin 

Condemns not, and whom erst (unless too near 

Resemblance do deceive me) I aloft 

Have seen on Latian ground, call thou to mind 

Piero of Aledicina, 1 if again 

Returning, thou behold'st the pleasant land 2 

That from Vercelli slopes to Mercabo ; 

And there instruct the twain, 3 whom Fano boasts 

Her worthiest sons, Guido and Angelo, 

That if 'tis given us here to scan aright 

The future, they out of life's tenement 4 

for two years, till many being struck with compunction at 
the dissolute life they led, his sect was much diminished, 
and, through failure of food and the severity of the snows, 
he was taken by the people of Xovara, and burnt, with Mar- 
garita, his companion, and many other men and women 
whom his errors had seduced." G. Villani. lib. viii. c. 84. 

Landino observes, that he was possessed of singula;- elo- 
quence, and that both he and Margarita endured their fate 
with a firmness worthy of a better cause. For a further ac- 
count of him, see Muratori, Rer. Ital. Script., torn. ix. p. 4-27. 

Fazio degli Uberti, speaking of the polygamy allowed by 
Mahomet, a'dds : 

E qui con fra Dolcin par che s'intenda. 

Dittamondo, lib. v. cap. xii. 

i Medicina.] A place in the territory of Bologna. Piero 
fomented dissensions among the inhabitants of that city, and 
among the leaders of the neighboring states. 

2 The pleasant land.] Lombardy. 

3 The ticain.] Guido del Cassero and Angiolello da Ca- 
gnano, two of the worthiest and most distinguished citizens 
of Fano, were invited by Malatestino da Rimini to an enter- 
tainment, on pretence that he had some important business 
o transact with them ; and, according to instructions given 
jy him, they were drowned in their passage near Cattolica, 
letween Rimini and Fano. 

4 Out of life's tenement.] " Fuor di lor vasello,*' is con- 
trued by the old Latin annotator on the Monte Cassino MS. 

tnd by LomVardi, kl out of the ship." Volpi understands 
' vasello" to mean " their city or country." Others take the 
«vord in the sense according to which, though not withou 
aome doubt, it is rendered in this translation. 



192 THE VISION. 76-108. 

Shall be cast forth, and whelm' d under the waves 

Near to Cattolica, through perfidy 

Of a fell tyrant. 'Twixt the Cyprian isle 

And Balearic, ne'er hath Neptune seen 

An injury so foul, by pirates done, 

Or Argive crew of old. That one-eyed traitor 

(Whose realm, there is a spirit here were fain 

His eye had still lack'd sight of) them shall bring 

To conference with him, then so shape his end, 

That they shall need not 'gainst Focara's wind 1 

Offer up vow nor prayer." I answering thua : 

" Declare, as thou dost wish that I above 

May carry tidings of thee, who is he, [brance. p! 

In whom that sight doth wake such sad remem- 

Forthwith he laid his hand on the cheek-bone 
Of one, his fellow-spirit, and his jaws 
Expanding, cried: " Lo ! this is he I wot of: 
He speaks not for himself: the outcast this, 
Who overwhelm'd the doubt in Caesar's mind, 2 
Affirming that delay to men prepared 
Was ever harmful." Oh ! how terrified 
Methought was Curio, from whose throat was cut 
The tongue, which spake that hardy word. Then one, 
Maim'd of each hand, uplifted in the gloom 
The bleeding stumps, that they with gory spots 
Sullied his face, and cried : " Remember thee 
Of Mosca 3 too ; I who, alas ! exclaim'd, 

1 Focara's wind.] Focara is a mountain, from which a 
wind blows that is peculiarly dangerous to the navigators of 
that coast. 

2 The doubt in Ccesar's mind.] Curio, whose speech (ac- 
cording to Lucan) determined Julius Caesar to proceed when 
he had arrived at Rimini, (the ancient Ariminum,) and 
doubted whether he should prosecute the civil war. 

Tolle moras : semper nocuit differre paratis. 

PharsaL, 1. i. 281. 
Haste then thy towering eagles on their way ; 
When fair occasion calls, 'tis fatal to delay. Rowe. 

3 Mosca.] Buondelmonte was engaged to marry a lady of 
the Amidei family, but broke his promise, and united himself 
to one of the Donati. This was so much resented by the 
former, that a meeting of themselves and their kinsmen was 
held, to consider of the best means of revenging the insult. 
Mosca degli Uberti, or de' Lamberti, persuaded them to re- 
solve on the assassination of Buondelmonte, exclaiming to 
them, " the thing once done, there is an end." The counsel 
md its effects were the source of many terrible calamities to 
the state of Florence. " This murder," says G. Villani, lib. v. 
cap. 38, " was the cause and beginning of the accursed 
Guelph and Ghibelline parties in Florence." It happened in 
1215. See the Paradise, Canto xvi. 139. 



103-130. HELL, Caxto XXYIII. 1 93 

■ The deed once done, there is an end,' that proved 
A seed of sorrow to the Tuscan race." 

I added : " Ay, and death to thine own tribe ,s 
Whence, heaping wo on wo, he hurried ofT, 
As one grief-stung to madness. But I there 
Still lingerd to behold the troop, and saw 
Thing, such as I may fear without more proof 
To tell of, but that conscience makes me firm, 
The boon companion, 1 who her strong breast-plate 
Buckles on him, that feels no guilt within, 
And bids him on and fear not. Without doubt 
I saw, and yet it seems to pass before me, 
A headless trunk, that even as the rest 
Of the sad flock paced onward. By the hair 
It bore the sever d member, lantern- wise 
Pendent in hand, which look'd at us, and said, 
Ji Wo ? s me !" The spirit lighted thus himself ; 
And two there were in one, and one in two. 
How that may be, he knows who ordereth so. 

When at the bridge's foot direct he stood, 
His arm aloft he rear'd, thrusting the head 
Full in our view, that nearer we might hear 
The words, which thus it utter'd : " Now behold 
This grievous torment, thou, who breathing go'st 
To spy the dead : behold, if any else 
Be terrible as this. And, that on earth 
Thou mayst bear tidings of me, know that I 
Am Bertrand, 2 he of Born, who gave king John 

1 Thi boon companion. \ 

What stronger breastplate than a heart untainted 1 

Shakspeare, 2 Hen. VI.. act iii. sc. 2. 

2 Bertrand.} Bertrand de Born, Yicomte de Hautefort, near 
Perigueux in Guienne, who incited John to rebel against hia 
father, Henry II. of England. Bertrand holds a distinguished 
place among the Provencal poets. He is quoted in Dante, de 
Vulg. Ebq., lib. ii. cap. 2, where it is said, " that he treated 
of war, which no Italian poet had yet done." "Anna vera 
nullum Italum adhuc poetasse invenio." The triple division 
of subjects for poetry, made in this chapter of the de Vulg. 
Eloq., is very remarkable. It will be found in a note on Pur- 
gatory, Canto xxvi. 113. For the translation of some extracts 
from Bertrand de Born's poems, see Millot. Hist. Litteraire 
des Troubadours, torn. i. p. 210 ; but the historical parts of 
that work are, I believe, not to be relied on. Bertrand had a 
son of the same name, who wrote a poem against John, king 
of England. It is that species of composition called the ser- 
ventese ; and is in the Vatican, a MS. in Cod. 3204. See Ba- 
stero. La Crusca Provenzale. Roma, 1724, p. 80. For many 
particulars respecting both Bertrands, consult Raynouard's 
Poesies des Troubadours ; in which excellent work, and in 
his Lexique Roman, Paris, 1838, several of their poems, in the 
Provencal language, may be seen 

17 



194 THE VISION 131-13* 

The counsel mischievous. Father and son 
I set at mutual war. For Absalom 
And David more did not Ahitophel, 
Spurring them on maliciously to strife. 
For parting those so closely knit, my brain 
Parted, alas ! I carry from its source, 
That in this trunk inhabits. Thus the law 
Of retribution fiercely works in me." 



CANTO XXIX. 



ARGUMENT. 

Dante, at the desire of Virgil, proceeds onward to the bridge 
that crosses the tenth gnlf, from whence he hears the criea 
of the alchemists and forgers, who are tormented therein ; 
but not being able to discern any thing on account of the 
darkness, they descend the rock, that bounds this the last 
of the compartments in which the eighth circle is divided, 
and then behold the spirits who are afflicted by divers 
plagues and diseases. Two of them, namely, Grifolino of 
Arezzo and Capocchio of Sienna, are introduced speaking. 

So were mine eyes inebriate with the view 
Of the vast multitude, whom various wounds 
Disfigured, that they long'd to stay and weep. 

But Virgil roused me : " What yet gazest on ? 
Wherefore doth fasten yet thy sight below 
Among the maim'd and miserable shades ? 
Thou hast not shown in any chasm beside 
This weakness. Know, if thou wouldst number them, 
That two and twenty miles the valley winds 
Its circuit, and already is the moon 
Beneith our feet : the time permitted now 
Is short ; and more, not seen, remains to see." 

" If thou," I straight replied, " hadst weighed the 
cause, 
For which I look'd, thou hadst perchance excused 
The tarrying still." My leader part pursued 
His way, the while I follow'd, answering him, 
And adding thus : " Within that cave I deem, 
Whereon so fixedly I held my ken, 
There is a spirit dwells, one of my blood, 
Wailing the crime that costs him now so dear." 

Then spake my master : " Let thy soul no more 
Afflict itself for him. Direct elsewhere 
[ts thought, and leave him. At the bridge's foot 



5J-45. HELL, Canto XXIX. tga 

I mark'd ho k he did point with menacing look 
At thee, and heard him by the others named 
Geri of Bello. 1 Thou so wholly then 
Wert busied with his spirit, who once ruled 
The towers of Hautefort, that thou lookedst not 
That way, ere he was gone." — '' O guide beloved 
His violent death yet unavenged," said I, 
" By any, who are partners in his shame, 
Made him contemptuous ; therefore, as I think, 
He pass'd me speechless by ; and, doing so, 
Hath made me more compassionate his fate." 

So we discoursed to where the rock first show'd 
The other valley, had more light been there, 
E'en to the lowest depth. Soon as we came 
O'er the last cloister in the dismal rounds 
Of Malebolge, and the brotherhood 
Were to our view exposed, then many a dart 
Of sore lament assail'd me, headed all 
With points of thrilling pity, that I closed 
Bath ears against the volley with mine hands. 

As were the torment, 2 if each lazar-house 
Of Valdichiana, 3 in the sultry time 

1 Geri of Bello.] A kinsman of the Poet's, who was mur- 
dered by one of the Sacchetti family. His being placed here, 
may be considered as a proof that Dante was more impartial 
in the allotment of his punishments than has generally been 
supposed. He was the son of Bello, who was brother to Bel- 
lincione, our Poet's grandfather. Pelli, Mem. per la Vita di 
Dante. Opere di Dante. Zatta ediz., torn. iv. part ii. p. 23. 

2 Jls were the torment.'] It is very probable that these lines 
gave Milton the idea of his celebrated description : 

Immediately a place 
Before their eyes appear'd, sad, noisome, dark 
A lazar-house it seem'd, wherein were laid 
Numbers of all diseased, all maladies, &c. 

P. L., b. xi. 477. 
Yet the enumeration of diseases, which follows, appears to 
Aave been taken by Milton from the Quadriregic : 
Qiiivi eran zoppi, monchi, sordi, e orbi, 
Q.uiv'i era il mal podagrico e di nanco, 
Quivi la frenesia cogli occhi torbi. 
Quivi il dolor gridante, e non mai stanco, 
Quivi il catarro con la gran cianfarda, 
L'asma, la polmonia quivi eran' anco 
L'idropisia quivi era grave e tarda, 
Di tutte febbri quel piano era pieno, 
Quivi quel mal, che par che la carne arda. 

Lib. ii. cap. 8. 

3 Of Valdichiana.] The valley through which passes the 
river Chiana, bounded by Arezzo, Cortona, Montepulciano, 
and Chiusi. In the heat of autumn it was formerly rendered 
unwholesome by the stagnation of the water, but has since 



196 THE VISION". 40- tii 

Twist July and September, with the isle 
Sardinia and Maremma's pestilent fen. 1 
Had heap'd their maladies all in one loss 
Together : such was here the torment : dire 
The stench, as issuing streams from fester'd limbs. 

We on the utmost shore of the long rock 
Descended still to leftward. Then my sight 
Was livelier to explore the depth, wherein 
The minister of the most mighty Lord. 
All-searching Justice., dooms to punishment 
The forgers noted on her dread record. 

More rueful was it not methinks to see 
The nation in JEgina 2 droop, what time 
Each living tiling, e'en to the little worm, 
AJJ fell, so full of malice was the air. 
And afterward, as bards of yore have told, 
The ancient people were restored anew 
From seed of emmets) than was here to see 
The spirits., that languish" d through the murky vale, 
Up-piled on many a stack. Confused they lay, 
One o'er the belly, o'er the shoulders one 
Roll'd of another : sideling crawl'd a third 
» Along the dismal pathway. Step by step 
We journey' d on. in silence looking round. 
And listening those diseased, who strove in vain 
To lift their forms. Then two I mark'd.. that sat 
Propp'd 'gainst each other, as two brazen pans 
Set to retain the heat. From head to foot. 
A tetter bark'd them round. Xor saw I e'er 
Groom currying so fast, for whom his lord 
Impatient waited, or himself perchance 
Tired with long watching, as of these each one 
Plied quickly his keen nails, through furiousness 
Of ne'er abated pruriency. The crust 
Came drawn from underneath in flakes, like scales 
Scraped from the bream, or fish of broader mail. 

•'•' O thou ! who with thy fingers rendest off 
Thy coat of proof.' 1 thus spake my guide to one, 
" And sometimes makest tearing pincers of them, 
-Tell me if any born of Latian land 
Be among these within : so may thy nails 

been drained by the Emperor Leopold n. The Chiana 1= 
mentioned as a remarkably slugfish stream, in the Paradise, 
Canto xiii. 21. 

1 M t ucwuma 's pestilent fen.] See Xote to Canto xxv. v. 18. 

2 In JBgnuL] He alludes to the fable of the ants changed 
into Myrmidons. Ovid. Met lib. vii. 






j 



p 




87 131 HELL, Canto XXIX. 197 

Serve thee for everlasting to this toil." 

-'- Both are of Latium," weeping he replied, 
" Whom tortured thus thou seest : but who art thot 
That hast inquired of us?" To whom my guide . 
u One that descend with this man, who yet lives, 
From rock to rock, and show him hell's abyss " 

Then started they asunder, and each turn'd 
Trembling toward us, with the rest, whose ear 
Those words redounding struck. To me my liege 
Address'd him . " Speak to them whate'er thou list" 

And I therewith began : " So may no time 
Filch your remembrance from the thoughts of men 
In the upper world, but after many suns 
Survive it, as ye tell me, who ye are, 
And of what race ye come. Your punishment, 
Unseemly and disgustful in its kind, 
Deter you not from opening thus much to me." 

" Arezzo was my dwelling," 1 answered one, 
" And me Albero of Sienna brought 
To die by fire : but that, for which I died, 
Leads me not here. True is, in sport I told him, 
That I had learn'd to wing my flight in air ; 
And he, admiring much, as he was void 
Of wisdom, will'd me to declare to him 
The secret of mine art : and only hence, 
Because I made him not a Daedalus, 
Prevail'd on one supposed his sire to burn me. 
But Minos to this chasm, last of the ten, 
For that I practised alchemy on earth, 
Has doom'd me. Him no subterfuge eludes." 

Then to the bard I spake : " Was ever race 
Light as Sienna's? 2 Sure not France herself 
Can show a tribe so frivolous and vain." 

The other leprous spirit heard my words, 
And thus return'd : " Be Stricca 3 from this charge 



l Arezzo was my dwelling.] Grifolino of Arezzo, who prorn 
ised Aibero, son of the Bishop of Sienna, that he would teach 
him the art of flying; and, because he did not keep his prom- 
';se, Albero prevailed on his father to have him burnt for a 
necromancer. 

2 JVas ever race 

Light as Siejina's ?] The same imputation is again casl 
on the Siennese, Purg., Canto xiii. 141. 

3 Stricca.\ This is said ironically. Stricca, Niccolo Salim- 
beni, Caccia of Asciano, and Abbagliato, or Meo de' Folcac- 
chieri, belonged to a company of prodigal and luxurious 
young men in Sienna, called the 4i brigata godereccia." Kic- 
lob was tie inventor of a new manner of using cloves in 



198 THE VISION. Q22-.38 

Exempted, he who knew so temperately 
To lay out fortune's gifts ; and Niccolo, 
Who first the spice's costly luxury 
Discover'd in that garden, 1 where such seed 
Roots deepest in the soil : and be that troop 
Exempted, with whom Caccia of Asciano 
Lavish'd his vineyards and wide -spreading woodsy 
And his rare wisdom Abbagliato 2 show'd 
A spectacle for all. That thou mayst know 
Who seconds thee against the Siennese 
Thus gladly, bend this way thy sharpen'd sight, 
That well my face may answer to thy ken ; 
So shalt thou see I am Capocchio's ghost, 3 
Who forged transmuted metals by the power 
Of alchemy ; and if I scan thee right, 
Thou needs must well remember how I aped 
Creative nature by my subtle art." 



cookery, not very well understood by the commentators, and 
which was termed the " costuma ricca.' 1 '' 

Pagliarini, in his Historical Observations on the Quadri- 
regio, lib. iii. cap. 13, adduces a passage from a MS. History of 
Sienna, in which it is told that these spendthrifts, out of the 
sum raised for the sale of their estates, built a palace, which 
they inhabited in common, and made the receptacle of thei? 
apparatus for luxurious enjoyment ; and that among their 
other extravagances, they had their horses shod with silver, 
and forbade their servants to pick up the precious shoes \i 
they dropped off. The end was, as might be expected, ex- 
treme poverty and wretchedness. Landino says, they spent 
two hundred thousand florins in twenty months. 

Horses shod with silver are mentioned by Fazio degli 
Uberti : 

Ancora in questo tempo si fu visto 
duel Roberto Guiscardo, che d'argento 
I cavagli ferrb per far l'acquisto. 

Dittamondo, 1. ii. c. 24, as corrected by Perticari. 

1 In that garden.] Sienna. 

2 Abbagliato.] Lombardi understands u Abbagliato" not to 
be the name of a man, but to be the epithet to " senno," and 
construes " E l'abbagliato suo senno proferse," " and mani- 
fested to the world the blindness of their understanding." 
So little doubt, however, is made of there being such a per- 
son, that Allacci speaks of his grandfather Folcacchiero de' 
Folcacchieri, of Sienna, as one who may dispute with the 
Sicilians the praise of being the first inventor of Italian po- 
etry. Tiraboschi, indeed, observes, that this genealogy is not 
authenticated by Allacci ; yet it is difficult to suppose that he 
should have mentioned it at all, if Meo de' Folcacchieri, or 
Abbagliato, as he was called, had never existed Vol i. p 
95. Mr. Mathias' edit. 

3 Capocchio's ghost.] Capocchio of Sienna, who is said to 
have been a fellow-student of Dante's, in natural philosophy 



1-30 HELL, Canto XXX. 199 

CANTO XXX. 

ARGUMENT. 

In the same gulf, other kinds of impostors, as those who have 
counterfeited the persons of others, or debased the current 
coin, or deceived by speech under false pretences, are de- 
scribed as suffering various diseases. Sinon of Troy and 
Adamo of Brescia mutually reproach each other with theif 
several impostures. 

What time resentment bunrd in Juno's breast 
For Semele against the Theban blood, 
As more than once in dire mischance was rued ; 
Such fatal phrensy seized on Athamas, 1 
That he his spouse beholding with a babe 
Laden on either arm, " Spread out," he cried, 
" The meshes, that I take the lioness 
And the young lions at the pass :" then forth 
Stretch'd he his merciless talons, grasping one, 
One helpless innocent, Learchus named, 
Whom swinging down he dash'd upon a rock ; 
And with her other burden,' 2 self-destroy'd, 
The hapless mother plunged. And when the prids 
Of all-presuming Troy fell from its height, 
By fortune overwhelm'd, and the old king 
With his realm perish'd ; then did Hecuba, 3 
A wretch forlorn and captive, when she saw 
Polyxena first slaughter'd, and her son, 
Her Polydorus, 4 on the w T ild sea-beach 
Next met the mourner's view, then reft of sense 
Did she run barking even as a dog ; 
Such mighty pow r er had grief to wrench her soul. 
But ne'er the Furies, or of Thebes, or Troy, 
With such fell cruelty w r ere seen, their goads 
Infixing in th? limbs of man or beast, 
As now two pale and naked ghosts I saw 7 , 
That gnarling wildly scamper'd, like the swine 
Excluded from his stye. One reach'd Capocchio, 
And in the neck-joint sticking deep his fangs, 
Dragg'd him, that, o'er the solid pavement rubb'd 

1 J2thamas.] From Ovid, Metam., lib. iv. 

Protinus iEolides, &c. 

2 With her other burden.] 

Seque super pontum nullo tardata timore 

Mittit, onusque suum. Ovid, Metam., lib. iv 

3 Hecuba.] See Euripides, Hecuba; and Ovid, Metam, 
fib. xiii. 

4 Her Polydorus.] 

Aspicit ejectum Polidori in littore corpus. Ovid Ibid 



200 THE VISION. 31-64 

His belly strctch'd out prone. The other shape, 
He of Arezzo, there left trembling, spake : 
" That sprite of air is Schicchi ; J in like mood 
Of random mischief vents he still his spite."' 

To whom I answering : " Oh ! as thou dost hope 
The other may not flesh its jaws on thee, 
Be patient to inform us, who it is, 
Ere it speed hence." — " That is the ancient soul 
Of wretched Myrrlia," 2 he replied, " who burn'd 
With most unholy flame for her own sire, 
And a false shape assuming, so perform' d 
The deed of sin ; e'en as the other there, 
That onward passes, dared to counterfeit 
Donatrs features, to feign'd testament 
The seal affixing, that himself might gain, 
For his own share, the lady of the herd." 

When vanish 5 d the two furious shades, on whom 
Mine eye was held, I turn'd it back to view 
The other cursed spirits. One I saw 
In fashion like a lute, had but the groin 
Been sever d where it meets the forked part 
Swoln dropsy, disproportioning the limbs 
With ill-converted moisture, that the paunch 
Suits not the visage, open'd wide his hps, 
Gasping as in the hectic man for drought, 
One towards the chin, the other upward curl'd. 

" O ye ! who in this world of misery, 
Wherefore I know not, are exempt from pain," 
Thus he began, " attentively regard 
Adamo's wo. 3 When living, full supply 
Ne'er lack'd me of what most I coveted ; 
One drop of water now, alas ! I crave. 
The rills, that glitter down the grassy slopes 
Of Casentino, 4 making fresh and soft 

* Schicchi.] Gianni Schicchi, who was of the family of 
Cavalcanti, possessed such a faculty of moulding his features 
to the resemblance of others, that he was employed by Simon 
Donati to personate Buoso Donati, then recently deceased, 
and to make a will, leaving Simon his heir; for which service 
he was remunerated with a mare of extraordinary value, here 
called " the lady of the herd." 

2 J\Iyrrha.\ See Ovid, Metam., lib. x. 

3 Adarno's wo.] Adamo of Brescia, at the instigation of 
Guido, Alessandro, and their brother Aghinulfo, lords of R>- 
mena, counterfeited the coin of Florence ; for which crime 
he was burnt. Landino says, that in his time the peasant* 
still pointed" out a pile of stones near Romena, as the place 
if his execution. See Troya, Veltro Allegorico, p. 25. 

• * Casentino.] Romena is a part of Casentino. 



55-92. HELL, Canto XXX. g(M 

The banks whereby they glide to Arno-'s stream, 

Stand ever in my view ; and not in vain ; 

For more the pictured semblance dries me up, 

Much more than the disease, which makes the flesla 

Desert these shrivell'd cheeks. So from the place 

Where I transgress'd, stern justice urging me, 

Takes means to quicken more my laboring sighs 

There is Romena, where I falsified 

The metal with the Baptist's form impress'd, 

For which on earth I left my body burnt. 

But if I here might see the sorrowing soul 

Of Guido, Alessandro, or their brother, 

For Branda's limpid spring 1 I would not change 

The welcome sight. One is e'en now within, 

If truly the mad spirits tell, that round 

Are wandering. But wherein besteads me that ? 

My limbs are fetterd. Were I but so light, 

That I each hundred years might move one inch, 

I had set forth already on this path, 

Seeking him out amidst the shapeless crew, 

Although eleven miles it wind, not less 2 

Than half of one across. They brought me down 

Among this tribe ; induced by them, I stamp'd 

The florins with three carats of alloy." 3 

" Who are that abject pair," I next inquired, 
u That closely bounding thee upon thy right 
Lie smoking, like a hand in winter steep'd 
In the chill stream ?" — " When to this gulf I dropp'd/' 

1 Branda's limpid spring.] A fountain in Sienna. 

2 Less.] Lombardi justly concludes that as Adanio wishes 
to exaggerate the difficulty of finding the spirit whom he 
wished to see, u , men," and not " piii" (" less," and not " more" 
than the half of a mile) is probably the true reading ; foJ 
there are authorities for both. 

* The florins with three carats of alloy.] The florin was a 
:oin that ought to have had twenty-four carats of pure gold. 
Villani relates, that it was first used at Florence in 1252, an 
era of great prosperity in the annals of the republi-c ; before 
which time their mos* valuable coinage was of silver. Hist., 
lib. vi. c. liv. 

Fazio degli Uberti uses the word to denote the purest gold 
Pura era come i'oro del fiorino. 

Dittamondo, L. ii. cap. xiv. 

" Among the ruins of Chaucer's house at Woodstock the> 
found an ancient coin of Florence ; I think, a Florein, an- 
riently common in England. Chaucer, Pardon, Tale v. 2290 

For that the Floraines been so fair and bright. 
Edward the Third, in 1344, altered it from a lower value to 
Ss. 8d. The particular piece I have mentioned seems about 
that value." JVarton, Hist of Eng. Poetry, v. ii. sect ii. p. 44. 



202 THEMSION. 93-131 

He ansver'd, " here I found them ; since that houi 
They have not turn'd, nor ever shall, I ween, 
Till time hath run his course. One is that dame, 
The false accuser 1 of the Hebrew y©uth ; 
Sinon the other, that false Greek from Troy. 
Sharp fever drains the reeky moistness out, 
In such a cloud upsteam'd." When that he heard. 
One, gall'd perchance to be so darkly named, 
With clench'd hand smote him on the braced paunch* 
That like a drum resounded : but forthwith 
Adamo smote him on the face, the blow 
Returning with his arm, that seem'd as hard. 

" Though my o'erweighty limbs have ta'en from me 
The power to move," said he, " I have an arm 
At liberty for such employ." Tc whom 
Was answer'd : " When thou wentest to the fire, 
Thou hadst it not so ready at command, 
Then readier when it coin'd the impostor gold." 

And thus the dropsied : " Ay, now speak'st then 
But there thou gavest not such true testimony, [true : 
When thou wast question'd of the truth, at Troy." 

" If I spake false, thou falsely stamp'dst the coin," 
Said Sinon ; " I am here for but one fault, 
And thou for more than any imp beside." 

" Remember," he replied, " O perjured one ! 
The horse remember, that did teem with death ; 
And all the world be witness to thy guilt." 

" To thine," return'd the Greek, " witness the thirst 
Whence thy tongue cracks, witness the fluid mound 
Rear'd by thy belly up before thine eyes, 
A mass corrupt." To whom the coiner thus : 
" Thy mouth gapes wide as ever to let pass 
Its evil saying. Me if thirst assails, 
Yet I am stufF'd with moisture. Thou art parch'd 
Pains rack thy head : no urging wouldst thou need 
To make thee lap Narcissus' mirror up." 

I was all fix'd to listen, when my guide 
Admonish'd : " Now beware. A little more, 
And I do quarrel with thee." I perceived 
How angrily he spake, and towards him turn'd 
With shame so poignant, as remember'd yet 
Confounds me. As a man that dreams of harm 
Befallen him, dreaming wishes it a dream, 
And that which is, desires as if it were not ; 
Such then was I, who, wanting power to speak, 

1 The false accuser.] Pctiphar's wife 



138-145. HELL, Canto XXXI. 2 OS 

Wish'd to excuse myself, and all the while 
Excused me, though unweeting that I did. [shame, 

" More grievous fault than thine has been, less 
My master cried, " might expiate. Therefore cast 
All sorrow from thy soul ; and if again 
Chance bring thee, where like conference is held, 
Think I am ever at thy side. To hear 
Such wrangling is a joy for vulgar minds." 



CANTO XXXI. 



ARGUMENT. 
The Poets, following the sound of a loud horn, are led by it 
to the ninth circle, in which there are four rounds, one en- 
closed within the other, and containing as many sorts of 
Traitors ; but the present Canto shows only that the circle 
is encompassed with Giants, one of whom, Antaeus, takes 
them both in his arms and places them at the bottom of 
the circle. 

The very tongue, 1 whose keen reproof before 
Mad wounded me, that either cheek was stain'd, 
Now minister'd my cure. So have I heard, 
Achilles' and his father's javelin caused 
Pain first, and then the boon of health restored. 

Turning our back upon the vale of wo, 
We cross'd the encircled mound in silence. There 
Was less than day and less than night, that far 
Mine eye advanced not : but I heard a horn 
Sounded so loud, the peal it rang had made 

1 The very tongue.] 

Vul nus in Herculeo quae quondam feccrat hoste 
Vulneris auxilium Pelias hasta fuit. 

Ovid, Rem. Amor., 41 
The same allusion was made by Bernard de Ventadour, a 
Provencal poet in the middle of the twelfth century; and 
Millot observes, that " it was a singular instance of erudition 
in a Troubadour." But it is not impossible, as Wartoc re- 
marks, (Hist of Engl. Poetry, vol. ii. sect. x. p. 215,) but tha> 
he might have been indebted for it to some of the early ro 
mances. 

In Chaucer's Squier's Tale, a sword of similar quality is 
introduced : 

And other folk have wondred on the sweard, 
That could so piercen through every thing; 
And fell in speech of Telephus the king, 
And of Achilles for his queint spere, 
For he couth with it both heale and dere. 
So Shakspeare, Henry VI. P. II. act v. sc. 1. 

Whose smile and frown 1 ke to Achilles' spear 
Is able with the change to kill and cure. 



204 THE VISION. U-ift 

The thunder feeble. Following its course 

The adverse way, my strained eyes were bent 

On that one spot. So terrible a blast 

Orlando 1 blew not, when that dismal rout 

O'erthrew the host of Charlemain, and quench'd 

His saintly warfare. Thitherward not long 

My head was raised, when many a lofty tower 

Methought I spied. " Master," said I, " what land 

Is this V s He answer'd straight : " Too long a space 

Of intervening darkness has thine eye 

To traverse : thou hast therefore widely err'd 

In thy imagining. Thither arrived 

Thou well* shalt see, how distance can delude 

The sense. A little therefore urge thee on." 

Then tenderly he caught me by the hand : 
" Yet know," said he, " ere farther we advance, 
That it less strange may seem, these are not towers 
But giants. In the pit they stand immersed, 
Each from his navel downward, round the bank." 

As when a fog disperseth gradually, 
Our vision traces what the mist involves 
Condensed in air ; so piercing through the gross 
And gloomy atmosphere, as more and more 
We near'd toward the brink, mine error fled, 
And fear came o'er me. As with circling round 
Of turrets, Montereggion 2 crowns his walls ; 
E'en thus the shore, encompassing the abyss*, 
Was turreted with giants, 3 half their length 
Uprearing, horrible, whom Jove from heaven 
Yet threatens, when his muttering thunder rolls 

Of one already I descried the face, 
Shoulders, and breast, and of the belly huge 
Great part, and both arms down along his ribs. 

All-teeming Nature, when her plastic hand 
Left framing of these monsters, did display 
Past doubt her wisdom, taking from mad War 

1 Orlando.] 

When Charlemain with all his peerage fell 
At Fontarabia. Milton, P. L., b. i. 58f>. 

See Warton's Hist, of Eng. Poetry, vol. i. sect. iii. p. 132 
" This is the horn which Orlando won from the giant Jat- 
mund, and which, as Turpin and the islandic bards report, 
was endued wJh magical power, and might be heard at the 
distance of twenty miles." Charlemain and Orlando are in- 
troduced in the Paradise, Canto xviii. 

2 Montereggion.] A castle near Sienna. 

3 Giants.] The giants round the pit, it is remarked by 
Warton, are in the Arabian vein of fabling. See D'Herbeloi, 
Bibl. Orientale. V. Rocail, p. 717, a 



47-79 HELL, Canto XXXI. 205 

Such slaves to do his bidding ; and if sue 

Repent her not of the elephant and whale, 

Who ponders well confesses her therein 

Wiser and more discreet ; for when brute force. 

And evil will are back'd with subtlety, 

Resistance none avails. His visage seem'd 

In length and bulk, as doth the pine 1 that tops 

Saint Peter's Roman fane ; and the other bone3 

Of like proportion, so that from above 

The bank, which girdled him below, such Height 

Arose his stature, that three Friezelanders 

Had striven in vain to reach but to his hair. 

Full thirty ample palms was he exposed 

Downward from whence a man his garment loops. 

" Raphel 2 bai ameth, sabi almi :" 

So shouted his fierce lips, which sweeter hymns 

Became not ; and my guide address'd him thus : 

" O senseless spirit ! let thy horn for thee 

Interpret : therewith vent thy rage, if rage 

Or other passion wring thee. Search thy neck, 

There shalt thou find the belt that binds it on. 

Spirit confused ! 3 lo, on thy mighty breast 

Where hangs the baldrick !" Then to me he spake 

'• He doth accuse himself. Nimrod is this, 

Through whose ill counsel in the world no more 

One tongue prevails. But pass we on, nor waste 

Our words ; for so each language is to him, 

As his to others, understood by none." 

Then to the leftward turning sped we forth, 
And at a sling's throw found another shade 
Far fiercer and more huge. I cannot say 
What master hand had girt him ; but he held 
Behind the right arm fetterd, and before, 

1 The pine.] "The large pine of bronze, which once orna 
mented the top of the mole of Adrian, was afterwards em- 
ployed to decorate the top of the belfry of St. Peter ; and having 
(according to Buti) been thrown down by lightning, it was, 
after lying some time on the steps of this palace, transferred 
to the place where it now is, in the Pope's garden, by the 
side of the great corridor of Belvedere. In the time of our 
Poet, the pine was then either on the belfry or on the steps ol 
St. Peter." Lombardi. 

2 Ra-phd, <S-c] These unmeaning sounds, it is supposed, are 
meant to express the confusion of languages at the building 
of the tower of Babel 

3 Spirit confused.] I had before translated "Wild spirit !'* 
and have altered it at the suggestion of Mr. Darley, who well 
observes, that " anima confusa" is peculiarly appropriate tc 
Vimrod. the author of the confusion at Babel. 

18 



206 1>x£ VISION. 5..-1-M 

The other, with a chain, that fastea d ,rim 

Fr::u the neck d:~u. : md on u- ton-rs :;oc 
Armorer.: :n :: •.'.:.-: ~u ■;-: :n: -d links. " Tnii : 1 : o ; 



v_ 



'■ Fiin v.-y.nd I. n ": "r:r possible, mine eve?. 
^. . ~.. . . i. -i 

£ ::: rrience next." He answer d : " Thou shall see 
N : : hen : b Antaeus, who both speaks 

And is unfetter d, who shall place us there 
Where guilt is at its depth. Far onward stands 
WIttut ::;■: o ^:nlds: rono behold. :o. chains, ana .node 
Like :: mis spirk. soto tna: in his b: :ks 

-ii no ;:t:^." Bpvorlon: earth: v.: ke : : : '.: 



: ii r . 



H^i needrd. u I hid :::: srii the rords 

Tha: held him tost, We, sTraihn:~ay jotinLryhij en 



Tplere 
the cave. 

i.e. 1 that noade 



I'::-:-- hick the :ro:r ::' Hauuboal in n:ji:t. 



fooz-n: 



The s:ns ::' earth had :ou:uer*c : n:^- vcuchstife 
To place us ::-"m benetrh. vrirere huonbiu:; cold 
Loci-is up C::y:us. F:r:e n:o that ~e :. 
( j : ar- : --- s ' help :: Typhous. Hoi is 
I on rive vriia: in :h:s re:.l:n ye cttot. .Stood 
Therein sc Tally distort thy lip. 

Ho in tire upper •■o:ii : in y-: besto— 
Renown on thee ; for he doth live, and looks 



. Fairs. i :. :v. .V*; ic:.l Pints 
riiers in his eye ihrooghooi afi 



123-136. HELL, Canto XX XI. 207 

And caught my guide. Alcides 1 whilom felt 
That grapple, straiten'd sore. Soon as my guide 
Had felt it, he bespake me thus : " This way, 
That I may clasp thee ;" then so caught me up, 
That we were both one burden. As appears 
The tower of Carisenda, 2 from beneath 
Where it doth lean, if chance a passing cloud 
So sail across, that opposite it hangs ; 
Such then Antaeus seenvd, as at mine ease 
I mark'd him stooping. I were fain at times 
To have pass'd another way. Yet in the abyss, 
That Lucifer with Judas low ingulfs, 
Lightly he placed us ; nor, there leaning, stay'd ; 
But rose, as in a bark the stately mast. 

CAXTO XXXII. 

ARGUMENT. 

This Canto treats of the first, and, in part, of the second of 
thoie rounds, into which the ninth and last, or frozen cir 
cle. is divided. In the former, called Caina, Dante finds 
Camiccione de' Pazzi, who gives him an account of other 
sinners who are there punished; and in the next, named 
Antenora, he hears in like manner from Bocca degli Abbati 
who his fellow-sutferers are. 

Could I command rough rhymes and hoarse, to 
That hole of sorrow o'er which every rock [suit 

His firm abutment rears, then might the vein 
Of fancy rise full springing : but not mine 
Such measures, and with faltering awe I touch 
The mighty theme ; for to describe the depth 
Of all the universe, is no emprize 
To jest with, and demands a tongue not used 
To infant babbling. 3 Bin let them assist 

1 .Hcides.] The combat between Hercules and Antaeus is 
adduced by the Poet in his treatise "De Monarchic!," lib. ii. 
as a proof of the judgment of God displayed in the duel r 
according to the singular superstition of those times. " Cer- 
tamine vero dupliciter Dei judicium aperitur vel ex colli- 
sione virium. sicut fit per duellum pugilum, qui duelliones 
etiam vocantur ; vel ex contentione plurium ad aliquod sig- 
mim prsevalere conantium, sicut fit per pugnam athletarum 
currentium ad bravium. Primus istorum modorum apud 
gentiles figuratus fuit in illo duello Herculis et Antaei, cujus 
Lueanus meminit in quarto Phar.salice, et Ovidius in nono de 
lerum transmutatione." 

2 The tou?:r of Carisenda.] The leaning tower at Rologp.a, 
A tongue not used 

To infant babbling.] 
Ne da lingua, che chiami mamma, babbo 



±J08 THE VISION. 10-35 

My song, the tuneful maidens, by whose aid 

Amphion wall'd in Thebes ; so with the truth 

My speech shall best accord. Oh ill-starrd folk, 

Beyond all others wretched ! who abide 

In such a mansion, as scarce thought finds words 

To speak of, better had ye here on earth 

Been flocks, or mountain goats. As down we stood 

In the dark pit beneath the giants' feet, 

But lower far than they, and I did gaze 

Still on the lofty battlement, a voice 

Bespake me thus: " Look how thou walk est. They 

Good heed, thy soles do tread not on the heads 

Of thy poor brethren." Thereupon I turn'd, 

And saw before and underneath my feet 

A lake, 1 whose frozen surface liker seem'd 

To glass than water. Not so thick a veil 

In winter e'er hath Austrian Danube spread 

O'er his still course, nor Tanais far remote 

Under the chilling sky. RolFd o'er that mass 

Had Tabernich or Pietrapana 2 fallen, 

Not e'en its rim had creak'd. As peeps the frog 

Croaking above the wave, what time in dreams 

The village gleaner oft pursues her toil, 

So, to where modest shame appears, 3 thus low 

Blue pinch'd and shrined in ice the spirits stood, 

Moving their teeth in shrill note like the stork. 4 



Dante in his treatise "De Vulg. Eloq.," speaking of woids 
not admissible in the loftier, or, as he calls it, tragic style of 
poetry, says : " In quorum numero nee puerilia propter suam 
simplicitatem ut Mamma et Babbo," lib.ii. c. vii. 

1 A lake.] The same torment is introduced into the Edaa, 
compiled in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. See the 
" Song of the Sun," translated by the Rev. James Beresford, 
London, 1805 ; and compare Warton's Hist, of Eng. Poetry, 
v. i. dissert, i., and Gray's Posthumous Works, edited by Mr. 
Mathias, v. ii. p. 106. "indeed, as an escape from " the pen- 
alty of Adam, the season's difference," forms one of the 
most natural topics of consolation for the loss of life, so does 
a renewal of that suffering in its fiercest extremes of heat 
and cold bring before the imagination of men in general (ex- 
cept indeed the terrors of a self-accusing conscience) the 
liveliest idea of future punishment. Refer to Shakspeare and 
Milton in the notes to Canto iii. 82 ; and see Douce's Illustra- 
tions of Shakspeare, 8vo. 1807, v. i. p. 182. 

2 Tabernich or Pietrapana.] The one a mountain in SJa- 
vonia, the other in that tract of country called the Garfagnana, 
not far from Lucca. 

3 To where modest shame appears.] " As hign as to the face. n 

4 Moving their teeth in shrill note like the stork.] 

Mettendo i denti in nota di cicogna. 



36-63 HELL, Canto XXXII. 209 

His face each downward held ; their mouth the cold, 
Their eyes express'd the dolor of their heart. 

A space I look'd around, then at my feet 
Saw two so strictly join'd, that of their head 
The very hairs were mingled. " Tell me ye, 
Whose bosoms t4ius together press," said I, 
"Who are ye?" At that sound their necks the7 

bent ; 
And when their looks were lifted up to me, 
Straightway their eyes, before all moist within, 
DistilFd upon their lips, and the frost bound 
The tears betwixt those orbs, and held them there. 
Plank unto plank hath never cramp closed up 
So stoutly. Whence, like two enraged goats, 
They clash'd together: them such fury seized. 

And one, from whom the cold both ears had reft. 
Exclainr d, still looking downward : " Why on us 
Dost speculate so long ? If thou wouldst know 
Who are these two, 1 the valley, whence his wave 
Bisenzio slopes, did for its master own 
Their sire Alberto, and next him themselves. 
They from one body issued : and throughout 
Cai'na thou mayst search, nor find a shade 
More worthy in congealment to be fix'd ; 
Not him, 2 whose breast and shadow Arthurs hand 
At that one blow dissever'd ; not Focaccia ; 3 
No, not this spirit, whose o'erjutting head 
Obstructs my onward view : he bore the name 
Of Mascheroni : 4 Tuscan if thou be, 



So Boccaccio, G. viii. N. 7. u Lo scolar cattivello quasi ci 
cogna divenuto si forte batteva i denti." 

1 Who are these tico.] Alessandro and Napoleone, sons of 
Alberto Alberti, who murdered each other. They were pro- 
prietors of the valley of Falterona, where the Bisenzio has 
its source, a river that falls into the Arno about six mile? 
from Florence. 

2 .Vat him.] Mordrec son of King Arthur. In the romance 
cf Lancelot of the Lake, Arthur, having discovered the trai- 
torous intentions of his son, pierces him through with the 
stroke of his lance, so that the sunbeam passes through the 
body of Mordrec ; and this disruption of the shadow is no 
doubt what our Poet alludes to in the text. 

3 Focaccia.] Focaccia of Cancellieri (the Pistoian family) 
whose atrocious act of revenge against his uncle is said "to 
have siven rise to the parties of the Bianchi and Neil, in 
the year 1300. See G. Villani, Hist., lib. viii. c. 37. and 
Macchiavelli, Hist., lib. ii. The account of the latter writer 
differs much from that given by Landino in his Commen- 
tary. 

4 Mascheroni.'] Sasscl Mascheroni, a Florentine, who alsc 
murdered his uncle. 



•210 THE VISION. G4-91 

Weil knowest who he was. And to cut short 

All farther , in my form behold 

What once was Camiccione. 1 I await 

Cariino 2 here my kinsman, whose deep guilt 

Shall wash out mine.' 3 A thousand visages 

Then mark'd I. which the keen and eager cold 

Had shaped into a doggish grin ; whence creeps 

A shivering horror o'er me. at the thought 

Of those frore shallows. "While we journey'd on 

Toward the middle, at whose point unites 

All heavy substance, and I trembling went 

Through that eternal chiilness. I know not 

If will 3 it were, or destiny, or chance, 

But. passing "midst the heads, my foot die 

With violent blow against the face of one. [claim'd 

"Wherefore dost braise me I" weeping he fx 
•'•' Unless thy errand be some fresh revc 
For Montaperto. 4 wherefore troublest me I" 

I thus : •• Instructor, now await me here. 
That I through him may rid me of my doubt : 
Thenceforth what haste thou wilt." The teacher 
And to that shade I spake, who bitterly [pa 
Still cursed me in ins wrath. " What art thou, speak, 
That railest thus on others . ! He replied: 
" Now who art thou, that smiting others* cheeks. 
Through Anrenora 5 roamest. with such force 
As were past sufferance, wert thou living still ?' 3 

" And I am living, to thy joy perchance, '' 
Was my reply. " if fame be dear to thee. 



i Czmiccione.] Camiccione de' Pazzl of Valdarno. by whom 
his kinsman Ubertino was treacherously put to death. 

* Cariino.] One of the same family. He betrayed tha 
Castel di Pjano Travigne. in Valdarno. to the Florentines, 
aftei the refugees of the Bianca and Ghibelline party had 

,_ insl i siege foi twenty-nine days, in the sum- 
mer of ] 30-2. See G. Villain. lib. via. c. la,, and Dino C::n 
pagai. lib. ii. 

* If will.] 

Whether upheld by strength, or chance, or fate. 

Milton, P. L.. b. i. 133. 

4 Montaperto.] The defeat of the Guelfi at Montaperto, 

gli Abbari. who. du- 
ring the engagement, cat off th 

de" Pazzi. bearer of die Florentine standard. G. Yiliani. 
;. ixxx. and Xotes to Canto x. This event happened in 

5 jSntenora.] M So called from Antenor, who. according to 
Dictys Cretensis De Bella Troj., lib. v.) and Dares Phrygius 
[De Excidio Trojse betrayed Troy his country." Lombardi. 
.See note on Parg., Canto v. 75. ' Antenor acts this part in 
Boccaccio's FilostratOj and in C dancer's Troilus andCreseide; 



93-119. HELL, Canto XXXII. 211 

That with the rest I may thy name enroll." 

" The contrary of what I covet most," 
Said he, " thou tender'st : hence ! nor vex me more 
III knowest thou to flatter in this vale." 

Then seizing on his hinder scalp I cried : 
" Name thee, or not a hair shall tarry here." 

" Rend all away," he answer'd, <• yet for that 
I will not tell, n^r show thee, who I am, 
Though at my head thou pluck a thousand times." 

Xow I had grasp'd his tresses, and stripp'd off 
More than one tuft, he barking, with his eyes 
Drawn in and downward, when another cried, 
'•' What ails thee, Bocca I Sound not loud enough 
Thy chattering teeth, but thou must bark outright 1 
What devil wrings thee V — K Now," said I, " be dumb, 
Accursed traitor ! To thy shame, of thee 
True tidings will I bear." — " Off!" he replied ; 
" Tell what thou list : but, as thou scape from hence, 
To speak of him whose tongue hath been so glib, 
Forget not : here he wails the Frenchman's gold. 
1 Him of Duera,' 1 thou canst say, ' I mark'd, 
f Where the starved sinners pine.' If thou be ask'd 
What other shade was with them, at thy side 
Is Beccaria, 2 whose red gorge distain'd 
The biting axe of Florence. Farther on, 
If I misdeem not, Soldanieri 3 bides, 
With Ganellon, 4 and Tribaldello, 5 him 



1 Him of Duera.] Buoso of Cremona, of the family of 
Duera, who was bribed by Guy de Montfort, to leave a pass 
between Piedmont and Parma, with the defence of which he 
had been intrusted by the Ghibellines, open to the army of 
Charles of Anjou, A. D. 12G5, at which the people of Cre- 
mona were so enraged, that they extirpated the whole family, 
G. Villani, lib. vii. c. iv. 

2 Beccaria.] Abbot of Vallombrosa. who was the Pope s 
Legate at Florence, where his intrigues in favor of the Ghi- 
bellines being discovered, he was beheaded. I do not find 
the occurrence in Villani, nor do the commentators say to 
what Pope he was legate. By Landino he is reported to 
have been from Parma ; by Vellutello, from Pavia. 

3 Soldanieri.] " Gianni Soldanieri," says Villani. Hist., llo. 
vii. c. xiv., " put himself at the head of the people, in the 
hopes of rising into power, not aware that the result would 
be mischief to the Ghibelline party, and his own ruin ; au 
event which seems ever to have befallen him who has head- 
ed the populace in Florence." — A. D. 126C. 

4 Ganellon.] The betrayer of Charlemain. mentioned by 
Archbishop Turpin. He is a common instance of treachery 
w'th the poets of the middle ages. 

Trop son fol e mal pensant, 

Pis valent que Guenelon. Thibaut, Roi de .Yavarr& 



23*2 THE VI>IQ\\ 

Who oped Faenza wh 

We now had left him, passing on cur way, 
iritis by the ice 
Pent in one hollow, that the head of one 
Was cowl unto the other; and, as bread 
Is raveird up through hunger, the uppermost 
Did so apply his fangs, to the other's orain, 
Where I ic spine joins it. Not more faiiou 
On Menalippns 9 temples Tycens 1 gnai 
Than on that skull and on its garbage be. 

" O thou! who show'st so beastly sign of 
'Gainst him thou prey'st on, let me hear/ 3 sai 
••' The cause, on such co:: it if right 

Warrant thy grievance, knowing who ye are, 
And what the color of his Binning was. 
I may repay thee in the world c 
Tf that, wherewith I speak, be moist so | o^g. M 



CANTO XXXIII 



ARGUMENT. 

P Jei is told by Count Ugolino de' GherardesclP 
cruel manner in which he and his children were : .: rished 
in the tower at Pisa, by command of the Arehbisho] 

liscourses of ; >.p--;PF:P : - 

mea, wherein those are Ml others 

under the semblance of kindness; and among the 
finds the Friar Alberigo de* Manfredi, wh 
whose soul was already tormented in that place. P. 
his bod}- appeared still to be alive upon the earth 
• . P^ed up to the governance of a fiend. 

II :s jaws uplifting from their fell re: 
That sinner wiped them on the hairs o' the head, 
Which he behind had mangled, then began: 
'•' Thy will obeying, I call up afresh 
Sorrow past cure : which, but to think of, wring? 
My lie art, or ere I tell on 't. But if words, 
That I may utter, shall prove seed to bear 



O new Scariot and new Ginilion, 
'. false dissembler, ice. 

Chaucer, Sonne's Priestess Talc* 
And in the Monke's Tale. Petei of Spaine. 

= Tribaldello.] Tribaldello de' Manfrec bribed 

to betray the city of Faenza, A. D. I2B3. G. Villani. lib vii 
:. Ixxx. 
i Tydeu$.\ Sec Statins I he yiii adfinena 



8-14. HELL, Canto XXXIII. 213 

Fruit of eternal infamy to him, 

The traitor whom I gnaw at, thou at once 

Shalt see me speak and weep. Who thou mayst be 

I know not, nor how here below art come : 

But Florentine thou seemest of a truth, 

When I do hear thee. Know, I was on earth 

Count Ugolino, 1 and the Archbishop he 



1 Count Ugolino.} u In the year 12S8, in the month of July, 
Pisa was much divided by competitors for the sovereignty ; 
one party, composed of certain of the Guelphi, being headed 
by the Judge Nino di Gallura de' Visconti ; another, consist 
ing of others of the same faction, by the Count Ugolino de' 
Gherardeschi ; and a third by the Archbishop Ruggieri degli 
[Jbaldini, with the Lanfranchi, Sismondi, Gualandi. and other 
Ghibelline houses. The Count Ugolino, to effect his pur- 
pose, united with the Archbishop and his party, and having 
betrayed Nino, his sister's son, they contrived that he and 
his followers should either be driven out of Pisa, or their 
persons seized. Nino, hearing this, and not seeing any 
means of defending himself, retired to Calci, his castle, and 
formed an alliance with the Florentines and people of Lucca, 
against the Pisans. The Count, before Nino was gone, in 
order to cover his treachery, when every thing was settled 
for his expulsion, quitted Pisa, and repaired to a manor of 
his called Settimo ; whence, as soon as he was informed of 
Nino's departure, he returned to Pisa with great rejoicing 
and festivity, and was elevated to the supreme power with 
every demonstration of triumph and honor. But his great- 
ness was not of long continuance. It pleased the Almighty 
that a total reverse of fortune should ensue, as a punish- 
ment for his acts of treachery and guilt ; for he was said to 
have poisoned the Count Anselmo da Capraia, his sister's 
son, on account of the envy and fear excited in his mind by 
ihe high esteem in which the gracious manners of Anselmo 
were held by the Pisans. The power of the Guelphi being 
so much diminished, the Archbishop devised means to be- 
tray the Count Ugolino, and caused him to be suddenly at- 
tacked in his palace by the fury of the people, whom he had 
exasperated, by telling them that Ugolino had betrayed Pisa, 
and given up their castles to the citizens of Florence and of 
Lucca. He was immediately compelled to surrender ; his 
bastard son and his grandson fell in the assault ; and two of 
his sous, with their two sons also, were conveyed to prison." 
G. Viilani, lib. vii. c. cxx. 

' In the following March, the Pisans, who had imprisoned 
the Count Ugolino, with two of his sons and two of his 
grandchildren, the offspring of his son the Count Guelfo, in 
a tower on the Piazza of the Anziani, caused the tower to be 
locked, the key thrown into the Arno, and all food to be 
withheld from them. In a few days they died of hunger ; 
but the Count first with loud cries declared his penitence, 
and yet neither priest nor friar was allowed to shrive him 
All the five, when dead, were dragged out of the prison, and 
ueanly inl erred ; and from thenceforward the tower was 
called the tower of famine, and so shall ever be." Tbid. % 
c. cxxvii. Troya asserts that Dante, for the sake of poetical 
effect, has much misrepresented the real facts See his 



2H THE VISION. 15-47 

Ruggieri. Why I neighbor him so close, 

Now list. That through effect of his ill thoughts 

In him my trust reposing, I was ta'en 

And after murder'd, need is not I tell. 

What therefore thou canst not have heard, that is, 

How cruel was the murder, shalt thou hear, 

And know if he have wrong" d me. A small grate 

Within that mew, which for my sake the name 

Of famine bears, where others yet must pine, 

Already through its opening several moons ] 

Had shown me, when I slept the evil sleep 

That from the future tore the curtain off. 

This one, methought, as master of the sport, 

Rode forth to chase the gaunt wolf, and his whelps, 

Unto the mountain 2 which forbids the sight 

Of Lucca to the Pisan. With lean brachs 

Inquisitive and keen, before him ranged 

Lanfranchi with Sismondi and Gualandi. 

After short course the father and the sons 

Seem'd tired and lagging, and methought I saw 

The sharp tusks gore their sides. When I awoke, 

Before the dawn, amid their sleep I heard 

My sons (for they were with me) weep and ask 

For bread. Right cruel art thou, if no pang 

Thou feel at thinking what my heart foretold ; 

And if not now, why use thy tears to flow ? 

Now had they waken'd ; and the hour drew near 

When they were wont to bring us food ; the mind 

Of each misgave him through his dream, and I 

Heard, at its outlet underneath lock'd up 

The horrible tower : whence, uttering not a word 

I look'd upon the visage of my sons. 

I weDt not : so all stone I felt within. 3 



Veltro Allegorico di Dante. Ed. 1826, p. 28, 9. This would 
render a conjecture, which the same writer elsewhere haz- 
ards, still more improbable ; that the story might have been 
written by Dante when the facts were yet recent, and after- 
wards introduced into his poem Ibid., p. 96. 

Chaucer has briefly told Ugolino's story. See Monke'a 
Tale, Hugeline of Pise. 

1 Several moons.] Many editions, and the greater part of 
Che MSS., instead of " piii lune," read " piu lume ;" according 
to which reading Ugolino would say, that the day had broke, 
and shone through the grated window of the prison, before 
he fell asleep. 

2 Unto the mountain.'] The mountain S! Giuliano between 
Pisa and Lucca. 

3 All stone I felt within.] " My heart is turn'd to stone ; J 
ttrike it, and it hurts my hand." Shaks., Othello, act iv. sc. 1 



48-79. HELL, Canto XXXIII. 215 

They wept : and one, my little Anselm, crie I, 

t Thou lookest so ! Father, what ails thee ?' Vet 

I shed no tear, nor answer'd all that day 

Xor the next night, until another sun 

Came out upon the world. When a faint bean* 

Had to our doleful prison made its way, 

And in four countenances I descried 

The image of my own, on either hand 

Through agony I bit ; and they, who thought 

I did it through desire of feeding, rose 

O' the sudden, and cried, * Father, we should grieve 

1 Far less, if thou wouldst eat of us : thou gavest 1 

' These weeds of miserable flesh we wear ; 

1 And do thou strip them off from us again.' 

Then, not to make them sadder, I kept down 

My spirit in stillness. That day and the next 

We all were silent. Ah, obdurate earth ! 

Why open'dst not upon us ? Whsn we came 

To the fourth day, then Gad do at my feet 

Outstretch'd did fling him, crying, ' Hast no help 

' For me, my father !' There he died ; mid e'en 

Plainly as thou seest me, saw I the three 

Fall one by one 'twixt the fifth day and tixth : 

Whence I betook me, now grown blind, to grope 

Over them all, and for three days aloud 

Call'd on them who were dead. Then, fasting got 

The mastery of grief." Thus having spoke, 

Once more upon the wretched skull his teeth 

He fasten'd like a mastiff's 'gainst the bone, 

Firm and unyielding. Oh, thou Pisa! shame 

Of all the people, who their dwelling make 

In that fair region, 2 where the Italian voice 

1 Thou gavest.] 

Tu ne vestisti 
Queste misere carni, e tu le spoglia 
[nutated by Filicaja, Canz. iii. 

Di questa Imperial caduca spogl :a 
Tu, Signor, me vestisti e tu mi s poglia : 
Ben puoi '1 Regno me tor tu che me 'I desti. 
And by Maffei in the Merope : 

Tu disciogleste 
dueste misere membra e tu le annodi. 
In that fair region.] 

Del bel paese la, dove '1 si suona. 
Italy, as explained by Dante himself, in his treatise T\ 
Vulg. Eloq., lib. i. cap. 8. " Q,ui autem Si dicnnt a praedictij 
finibus (Januensium) Orientalem (Meridionalis Europse par- 
tem) tenent ; videlicet usque ad promontorhim illud Italia 
}ua sinus Adriatici maris incipit et Siciliam." 



216 THE VISION. 80-116 

Is heard ; since that thy neighbors are so slack 

To punish, from their deep foundations rise 

Capraia and Gorgona, 1 and dam up 

The mouth of Arno ; that each soul in thee 

May perish in the waters. What if fame 

Reported that thy castles were betray'd 

By Ugolino, yet no right hadst thou 

To stretch his children on the rack. For them, 

Brigata, Uguccione, and the pair 

Of gentle ones, of whom my song hath told, 

Their tender years, thou modern Thebes, did make 

Uncapable of guilt. Onward we pass'd, 

Where others, skarf "d in rugged folds of ice. 

Xot on their feet were tum'd, but each reversed. 

There, very weeping suffers not to weep f 
For, at their eyes, grief, seeking passage, finds 
Impediment, and rolling inward turns 
For increase of sharp anguish : the first tears 
Hang cluster'd, and like crystal vizors show, 
Under the socket brimming all the cup. 

Now though the cold had from my face dislodged 
Each feeling, as "t were callous, yet me seem'd 
Some breath of wind I felt. Si Whence cometh this/' 
Said I. •'•' my Master \ Is not here below 
All vapor quench'd ?" — " Thou shalt be speedily,*' 
He answer'd, •'•' where thine eyes shall tell thee 
The cause descrying of this airy shower."' [whence, 

Then cried out one, in the chill crust who mourn'd : 
'•' O souls ! so cruel, that the farthest post 
Hath been assign"d you. from this face remove 
The harden'd veil ; that I may vent the grief 
Impregnate at my heart, some little space, 
Ere it congeal again." I thus replied : 
'■ Say who thou wast, if thou wouldst have mine aid ; 
And if I extricate thee not, far down 
As to the lowest ice may I descend."' 

" The friar Alberieo," 3 answer'd he, 

1 Capraia and Gargona.~\ Small islands near the raoiun cf 

the Arno. 

- There, very Keeping suffers not to iceep.] 

Lo pianto stesso li pianger non lascia. 
Bo Giusto de' Conti. Bella Mano. Son. " Quanto il del." 
Che il troppo pianto a me pianger non lassa. 

3 The friar Alberigo.] Alberigo de' Manfredi of Faenza 
one of the Frati Godenti. Joyous Friars, who having quar 
relied with some of his brotherhood. tm4er pretence of wish 
ing to be reconciled, invited them to a banquet, at the con 
elusion of which he called for the fruit, a signal for the 



117-139 HELL, Canto XXXIII. £fS 

" Am I, who from the evil garden pluck'd 

Its fruitage, and am here repaid, the date 1 

More luscious for my fig." — " Hah !" I exclahn'd, 

u Art thou too dead?" — " How in the world aloft 

It fareth with my body," answer d he, 

" I am right ignorant. Such privilege 

Hath Ptolomea, 2 that oft-times the soul 2 

Drops hither, ere by Atropos divorced. 

And that thou mayst wipe out more willingly 

The glazed tear-drops 4 that o'erlay mine eyes, 

Know that the soul, that moment she betrays, 

As I did, yields her body to a fiend 

Who after moves and governs it at will, 

Till all its time be rounded : headlong she 

Falls to this cistern. And perchance above 

Doth yet appear the body of a ghost, 

Who here behind me winters. Him thou knx. *v''st 

If thou but newly art arrived below. 

The years are many that have pass'd away, 

Since to this fastness Branca Doria 5 came." 

" Now," answer'd I, " methinks thou mock est me , 
For Branca Doria never yet hath died, 
But doth all natural functions of a man, 



assassins to rush in and dispatch those whom he had marked 
for destruction. Hence, adds Landino, it is said proverbially 
of one who has been stabbed, that he has had some of the 
friar Alberigo's fruit. 
Thus Pulci, Morg. Magg., c. xxv. 

Le frutte amare di frate Alberico. 

1 The date.] 

Come Dio rende dataro per fico; 

Fazio degli Uberti, Dittamondo, 1. iv. cap. xix. 

2 Ptolomea.] This circle is named Ptolomea from Ptolemy 
the son of Abubus, by whom Simon and his sons were mur- 
dered, at a great banquet he had made for them. See 1 Mac- 
cabees, ch. xvi. Or from Ptolemy, king of Egypt, the be- 
trayer of Pompey the Great. 

3 The soul.] Chaucer seems to allude to this in the Frere's 
Tale, where a fiend assumes the person of a yeoman, and 
tells the Sompnour that he shall one day come to a place 
where he shall understand the mystery of such possessions, 

Bet than Virgile, while he was on live, 
Or Dant also. 
See Mr. Southey's Tale of Donica. 

4 The glazed tear-drops.] 

sorrow's eye, glazed with blinding tears. 

Shakspeare, Rich. II, act ii. sc. 2. 
Branca Doria.] The family of Doria was possessed of 
jrreat influence in Genoa. Branca is said to have murdered 
his father-in-law, Michel Zanche, introduced in Canto xxii. 
19 



218 THE VJSfOII. ;40-15E 

Eats, drinks, and sleeps, 1 and putteth raiment on" 

He thus : " Not yet rnito that upper foss 
By th' evil talons guarded, where the pitch 
Tenacious boils, had Michel Zanche reach'd, 
When this one left a demon in his stead 
In Ins own body, and of one his kin, 
Who with him treachery wrought. But now put fort 1 * 
Thy hand, and ope mine eyes." I oped them not 
III manners were best courtesy to him. 

Ah Genoese ! men perverse in every way, 
With ever} 7 foulness stain'd, why from the eartA 
Are ye not cane ell' d ? Such an one of yours 
I with Romagna's darkest spirit 2 found, 
As, for his doings, even now in soul 
Is in Cocytus plunged, and yet doth seem 
In body still alive upon the earth. 



CANTO XXXIV 

ARGUMENT. 
Id the fourth and last round of the ninth circle, those who 
have betrayed their benefactors are wholly covered with 
ice. And in the midst is Lucifer, at whose back Dante 
and Virgil ascend, till by a secret path they reach the sur- 
face of the other hemisphere of the earth," and once more 
obtain sight of the stars. 

" The banners 3 of Hell's Monarch do come forth 
Toward us ; therefore look," so spake my guide, 
£i If thou discern him." As, when breathes a cloUvi 
Heavy and dense, or when the shades of night 
Fall on our hemisphere, seems view'd from far 
A windmill, 4 which the blast stirs briskly round \ 
Such was the fabric then methought I saw. 

To shield me from the wind, forthwith I drew 
Behind my guide : no covert else was there. 

1 Eats, drinks, and sleeps.] 

But 'tis a spirit. 

Pro. Xo, wench, it eats and sleeps, and hath such senses 
As we have, such Shakspeare, Tempest, act i. sc. 2. 

3 Romagna's darkest spirit.} The friar Alberigo. 

3 The tanners.] 

Vexiila regis prodeunt inferni. 
A parody of the first verse in a hymn that was sung by the 
church in praise of the cross. 

4 A windmill.'] The author of the Caliph Vathek, In the 
aotes to that tale, justly observes that it is more than proba- 
ble that Don Quixote's mistake of the windmills for giant* 
was suggested to Cervantes by this simile. 



10-37. HELL, Ca>-to XXXIY. 219 

Xow came I (and with fear I bid my strain 
Record the marvel) where the souls were all 
Whelm'd underneath, transparent, as through glass 
Pellucid the frail stem. Some prone were laid : 
Others stood upright, this upon the soles, 
That on his head, a third with face to feet 
Arch'd like a bow. When to the point we came, 
Whereat my guide was pleased that I should see 
The creature eminent in beauty once. 
He from before me stepp'd and made me pause. 

•• Lo ! ? ' he exclainvd, •'•' lo Dis ; and lo the place. 
Where thou hast need to arm thy heart with strength." 

How frozen and how faint I then became, 
Ask me not, reader ! for I write it not ; 
Since words would fail to tell thee of my state. 
I was not dead nor living. 1 Think thyself, 
If quick conception work in thee at all, 
How I did feel. That emperor, who sways 
The realm of sorrow, at mid breast from the ice 
Stood forth ; and I in stature am more like 
A giant," than the giants are Ins arms. 
Mark now how great that whole must be, which suits 
With such a part. If he were beautiful 
As he is hideous now, and yet did dare 
To scowl upon his Maker, well from him 
May all our miser}' flow. Oh what a sight ! 
How passing strange it seem'd, when I did spy 
Upon his head three faces : 3 one in front 

1 / icas not dead nor living:] 

ovr' ev roT> dQipiioig, 

ovr 1 iv iwcriv apiQuovyLtxT]. 

Euripides. Supplices, v. 079, MarklancTs edit. 

turn ibi me nescio quis arripit 

Timidam atque pavidam, nee vivam nee mortmain. 

Plautus, Carcidio, act v. sc. 2 

2 A giant.] 

Xel primo clima sta come signore 
Colli giganti ; ed un delle sue braecie 
Piii che nullo di loro e assai maggiore. 

Frezzi. II Quadrir., lib. ii. cap. i. 

3 Three faces.] It can scarcely ae doubted but that Miltos 
lierived his description of Satan, in those lines — 

Each passion dimm'd his face 

Thrice chaDzed with pale ire. envy and despair. 

P. L., b. iv. 144. 
from this passage, coupled with the remark of Vellutella 
upon it; "The first of these sins is anger, which he signifies 
by the red face ; the second, represented by that between 
pale and yellow, is envy, and not, as others have said, avarice • 



220 THE VISION. 38- 40 

Of hue vermilion, the other two with this 
Midway each shoulder join'd and at the cresl; ; 
The right 'twixt wan and yellow seem'd ; the left 
To look on, such as come from whence olc Nile 
Stoops to the lowlands. Under each shot forth 
Two mighty wings, enormous as became 
A bird so vast. Sails 1 never suca I saw 
Outstretch'd on the wide sea. No plumes had theyj 
But were in texture like a bat ; 2 and these 



and the third, denoted by the black, is a melancholy humoi 
that causes a man's thoughts to be dark and evil, and aveise 
from all joy and tranquillity." 

Lombardi would understand the three faces to signify the 
three parts of the world then known, in all of which Lucifer 
had his subjects : the red denoting the Europeans, who were 
in the middle ; the yellow, the Asiatics, on the right ; and the 
black, the Africans, who were on the left; according to the 
position of the faces themselves. 

1 Sails.] 

Argo non ebbe mai si grande vela, 
Ne altra nave, come Tali sue ; 
Ne mai tessuta fu si grande tela. 

Frezzi, 11 Quadrir., lib. ii. cap. xix. 

His sail-broad vans 

He spreads for flight. 

Milton, P. L., b. ii. 927. 

Compare Spenser, F. Q.., b. i. c. xi. st. 10 ; Ben Jonson's 
Every Man out of his Humor, v. 7 ; and Fletcher's Prophetess, 
act 2, scene 3. 

In his description of Satan, Frezzi has departed not les3 
from Dante than our own poet has done ; for he has painted 
him on a high throne, with a benignant and glad counte- 
nance, yet full of majesty, a triple crown on his head, six- 
shining wings on his shoulders, and a court thronged with 
giants, centaurs, and mighty captains, besides youths and 
damsels, who are disporting in the neighboring meadows 
with song and dance ; but no sooner does Minerva, who ',s 
the author's conductress, present her crystal shield^ than a71 
this triumph and jollity is seen through it transformed into 
loathsomeness and horror. There are many touches in this 
picture that will remind the reader of Milton. 

2 Like a bat.] The description of an imaginary being, who 
is called Typhurgo, in the Zodiacus Vita, has something very 
Uie this of Dante's Lucifer. 

Ingentem vidi regem, ingentique sedentem 
In solio, crines flammanti stemmate cinctum, 

utrinque patentes 

Alse humeris magnae, quales vespertilionum 

Membranis contexts amplis — 

Nudus erat longis sed opertus corpora villis. 

M. Palingenii, Zod. Fit., lib. is 

A mighty king I might (Jiscerne, 

Placed hie on lofty chaire, 
His haire with fyry garland deckt 

Puft up in fiendish wise. 



17-68. HELL, Canto XXXIV. 22 J 

He flapp'd i' th' air, that from him issued still 
Three winds, wherewith Cocytus to its depth 
Was frozen. At six eyes he wept : the tears 
Adown three chins distill'd with bloody foam. 
At every mouth his teeth a sinner champ'd, 
Bruised as with ponderous engine ; so that three 
Were in this guise tormented. But far more 
Than from that gnawing, was the foremost pang' a 
By the fierce rending, whence oft-times the back 
Was stripp'd of all its skin. " That upper spirit, 
Who hath worst punishment," so spake my guide, 
" Is Judas, he that hath his head within 
And plies the feet without. Of th' other two, 
Whose heads are under, from the murky jaw 
Who hangs, is Brutus i 1 lo ! how he doth writhe 
And speaks not. The other, Cassius, that appears 
So large of limb. But night now reascends ; 
And it is time for parting. All is seen." 

I clipp'd him round the neck ; for so he bade ■ 
And noting time and place, he, when the wings 
Enough were oped, caught fast the shaggy sides, 
And down from pile to pile descending stepp'd 



Large wings on him did grow 
Framde like the wings of Hinder mice, &c. 

Goocre's Translation. 
Brutus.] Landino struggles, but I fear in vain, to extri- 
cate Brutus from the unworthy lot which is here assigned 
him. He maintains, that by Brutus and Cassius are not 
meant the individuals known by those names, but any who 
put a lawful monarch to death. Yet if Caesar was such, the 
conspirators might be regarded as deserving of their doom. 

u O uomini eccellenti !" exclaims the commentator, with a 
spirit becoming one who felt that he lived in a free state, 
" ed al tutto degni a quali Roma fosse patria, e de' quali res 
tera sempre e tenia memoria ; legginsi tutte le leggi di qua 
lunque republica bene instituta, e troveremo che a nessuno 
si propose maggior premio che a chi uccide il tiranno." Cow- 
ley, as conspicuous for his loyalty as for his genius, in an ode 
inscribed with the name of this patriot, which, though not 
free from the usual faults of the poet, is yet a noble one, ha*» 
placed his character in the right point of view — 

Excellent Brutus ! of all human race 

The best, till nature was improved by grace. 

If Dante, however, believed Brutus to have been actuated 
by evil motives in putting Caesar to death, the excellence of 
the patriot's character in other respects would only have 
aggravated his guilt in that particular. " Totius autem in* 
justitioe nulla capitalior est quam eorum, qui cum maximo 
fallunt id aguut, ut viri boni esse videantur." Ci de Off n 
ib. i. cap. xiii. 



222 THE VISION 69-10? 

Between the thick fell and the jagged ice. 

Soon as he reach'd the point, whereat the thigh 
Upon the swelling of the haunches turns, 
My leader there, with pain and struggling hard, 
Turn'd round his head where his feet stood before, 
And grappled at the fell as one who mounts ; 
That into hell methought we turn'd again. 

" Expect that by such stairs as these," thus spak< 
The teacher, panting like a man forespent. 
'*' We must depart from evil so extreme :" 
Then at a rocky opening issued forth, 
And placed me on the brink to sit, next join'd 
With wary step my side. I raised mine eyes, 
Believing that I Lucifer should see 
Where he was lately left, but saw him now 
With legs held upward. Let the grosser sort, 
Who see not what the point was I had passed, 
Bethink them if sore toil oppress' d me then. 

" Arise," my master cried, " upon thy feet. 
The way is long, and much uncouth the road ; 
And now within one hour and half of noon 1 
The sun returns." It was no palace -hall 
Lofty and luminous wherein we stood, 
But natural dungeon where ill -footing was 
And scant supply of light. " Ere from the abyss 
I separate," thus when risen I began : 
• My guide ! vouchsafe few words to set me free 
From error's thraldom. Wliere is now the ice ? 
How standeth he in posture thus reversed ? 
And how from eve to morn in space so brief 
Hath the sun made his transit?" He in few 
Thus answering spake : " Thou deemest thou art still 
On the other side the centre, where I grasp'd 
The abhorred worm that boreth through the world. 
Thou wast on the other side, so long as I 
Descended ; when I turn'd, thou didst o'erpass 
That point, 2 to winch from every part is dragg'd 
All heavy substance. Thou art now arrived 
Under the hemisphere opposed to that, 



1 Within one hour and half of noon.] The Poet uses the 
Hebrew manner of computing the day, according to which 
the third hour answers to our twelve o'clock at noon. 

a That point.] Monti obser% T es, that if this passage had 
chanced to meet the eye of NeVton, it might better have 
awakened his thought "to conceive the system of attraction, 
than the accidental falling of an apple. Proposta, v. ui. p te 2 
p. lxxviii. 8°. 1821. 



108-133. HELL, Canto XXXI<V. 223 

Which the great continent doth overspread, 

And underneath whose canopy expired 

The Man that was born sinless, and so lived. 

Thy feet are planted on the smallest sphere. 

Whose other aspect is Judecca. Morn 

Here rises, when there evening sets : and he, 

Whose shaggy pile we scaled, yet standeth fix'd. 

As at the first. On this part he fell down 

From heaven ; and th' earth, here prominent before 

Through fear of him did veil her with the sea, 

And to our hemisphere retired. Perchance, 

To shun him, was the vacant space left here, 

By what of firm land on this side appears, 1 

That sprang aloof/' There is a place beneath, 

From Belzebub as distant, as extends 

The vaulted tomb f discovered not by sight, 

But by the sound of brooklet, that descends 

This way along the hollow of a rock, 

Which, as it winds with no precipitous course, 

The wave hath eaten. By that hidden way 

My guide and I did enter, to return 

To the fair world : and heedless of repose 

We climb'd, he first, I following his steps, 

Till on our view the beautiful lights of heaven 

Dawird through a circular opening in the cave : 

Thence issuing we again beheld the stars. 

1 By what of firm land on this side appears.} The moun 
tain of Purgatory. 

2 The vaulted tomb.] " La tomba." This word is used ic 
express the whole der ih of the infernal region. 



THE VISION OF DANTE. 



PURGATORY, 



CANTO I. 



ARGUMENT. 

The Fue*. describes the delight he experienced at issuing a 
lit no i>efore dawn from the infernal regions, into the pure 
air that surrounds the isle of Purgatory ; and then relates 
how, turning to the right, he beheld four stars never ceen 
before but by our first parents, and met on his left the 
shade of Cato of Utica, who, having warned him and Vir- 
gil what is needful to be done before they proceed on their 
way through Purgatory, disappears ; and the two poets 
go towards the shore, where Virgil cleanses Dante's face 
with the dew, and girds him with a reed, as Cato had com- 
manded. 

O'er better waves 1 to speed her rapid course 
The light bark of my genius lifts the sail, 
Well pleased to leave so cruel sea behind ; 
And of that second region will I sing, 
In which the human spirit from sinful blot 
Is purged, and for ascent to Heaven prepares. 

Here, O ye hallowed Nine ! for in your train 
1 follow, here the deaden'd strain revive ; 
Nor let Calliope refuse to sound 
A somewhat higher song, of that loud tone 

1 O'er better waves.] So Bend. Oil. Inn., lib. ii c I 
Per correr maggior acqua alza le vele, 



22b THE VIS1CLN .11-25 

Which when the wretched birds of chattering note 1 
Had heard, they of forgiveness lost all hope. 

Sweet hue of eastern sapphire, that was spread 
O'er the serene aspect of the pure air, 
High up as the first circle, 2 to mine eyes 
Unwonted joy renew'd, soon as I 'scaped 
Forth from the atmosphere of deadly gloom, 
That had mine eyes and bosom fill'd with grief. 
The radiant planet, 3 that to love invites, 
Made all the orient laugh, 4 and veil'd beneath 
The Pisces' light, 5 that in his escort came. 

To the right hand I turn'd, and fix'd my mind 
On the other pole attentive, where I saw 
Four stars 6 ne'er seen before save by the ken 
Of our first parents. 7 Heaven of their rays 



1 Birds of chattering note.\ For the fable of the daughter-: 
of Pierus, who challenged the muses to sing, and were by 
them changed into magpies, see Ovid, Met., lib. v. fab. 5. 

2 The first circle.} Either, as some suppose, the moon ; 
or, as Lombardi (who likes to be as far off the rest of the com- 
mentators as possible) will have it, the highest circle of the 
stars. 

3 Planet.] Venus. 

4 JIade all the orient laugh.] Hence Chaucer, Knight's Tale: 

And all the orisont laugheth of the sight. 
It is sometimes read " orient." 

5 The Pisces' light.] The constellation of the Fish veiled 
by the more luminous body of Venus, then a morning star. 

6 Four stars.] Venturi observes that " Dante here speaks 
as a poet, and almost in the spirit of prophecy; or, what is 
more likely, describes the heaven about that pole according 
to his own invention. In our days," he adds, " the cross, 
composed of four stars, three of the second and one of the 
third magnitude, serves as a guide to those who sail from 
Europe to the south ; but in the age of Dante these discove- 
ries had not been made ;" yet it appears probable, that either 
from long tradition, or from the relation of later voyagers, the 
real truth might not have been unknown to our Poet. Sene 
ca's prediction of the discovery of America may be accounted 
for in a similar manner. But whatever may be thought 
of this, it is certain that the four stars are here symbolical 
of the four cardinal virtues, Prudence, Justice, Fortitude, 
and Temperance. See Canto xxxi. v. 105. M. Artaud men 
lions a globe constructed by an Arabian in Egypt, with the 
date of the year 622 of the Hegira, corresponding to 1225 
of our era, in which the southern cross is positively mark- 
ed See his Histoire de Dante, ch. xxxi. and xl. 8°. Par 
1841 

7 Our first parents.] In the terrestrial paradise, placed af 
v*e shall see, by our Poet, on the summit of Purgatory. 



•>G-50 PURGATORY, Canto 1 221 

Seem'd joyous. O thou northern site ! bereft 
Indeed, and widow'd, since of these deprived. 

As from this view I had desisted, straight 
Turning a little towards the other pole, 
There from whence now the wain 1 had disappeared, 
I saw an old man 2 standing by my side 
Alone, so worthy of reverence in his look, 
That ne'er from son to father more was owed. 
Low down his beard, and mix'd with hoary white 
Descended, like his locks, which, parting, fell 
Upon his breast in double fold. The beams 
Of those four luminaries on his face 
So brightly shone, and with such radiance clear 
Deck'd it, that I beheld him as the sun. 

" Say who are ye, that stemming the blind stream 
Forth from the eternal prison-house have fled ?" 
He spoke and moved those venerable plumes. 3 
" Who hath conducted, or with lantern sure 
Lights you emerging from the depth of night, 
That makes the infernal valley ever black ? 
Are the firm statutes of the dread abyss 
Broken, or in high heaven new laws ordain'd, 
That thus, condemn'd, ye to my caves approach /" 

My guide, then laying hold on me, by words 
And intimations given with hand and head, 

1 The icain.~\ Charles's Wain, or Bootes. 

2 An old man.] Cato. 

Secretosque pios ; his danlem jura Catonem. 

Virg. JEn., viii. 670. 
The commentators, and Lombardi among the rest, mighl 
have saved themselves and their readers much needless 
trouble if they would have consulted the prose writings of 
Dante with more diligence. In the Convito, p. 231, he has 
himself declared his opinion of the illustrious Roman. 
M Quale uomo," &c. " What earthly man was more worthy 
to follow God than Cato'? Certainly none." And again, 
p. 212 : " Nel nome di cui," &c. " In whose name, what- 
ever needs be said concerning the signs of nobility may be 
concluded ; for, in him, that nobility displays them all through 
out all ages. 1 ' 
8 Venerable plumes. \ 

Insperata tus quum veniet pluma superbiae. 

Hor. Carm., lib. iv. ode 10. 

The same metaphor has occurred in Hell, Canto xx. v. -1L 

the plumes, 

That mark'd the -better sex. 
It is used by Ford in the Lady's Trial, act iv. sc. 9 

Now the down 

Of softness is exchanged for plumes of age 



228 THE VISION. 51 •?& 

Made my bent knees and eye submissive pay 
Due reverence ; then thus to him replied : 

" Not of myself I come ; a Dame from heaven 
Descending, him besought me in my charge 
To bring. But since thy will implies, that more 
Our true condition I unfold at large, 
Mine is not to deny thee thy request. 
This mortal ne'er hath seen the farthest gloom ; 2 
But erring by his folly had approach'd 
So near, that little space was left to turn 
Then, as before I told, I was dispatch'd 
To work his rescue ; and no way remain'd 
Save this which I have ta'en. I have display'd 
Before him all the regions of the bad ; 
And purpose now those spirits to display, 
That under thy command are purged from sin. 
How I have brought him would be long to say. 
From high descends the virtue, by whose aid 
I to thy sight and hearing him have led. 
Now may our coming please thee. In the search 
Of liberty he journeys : that how dear, 
They know who for her sake have life refused. 
Thou knowest, to whom death for her was sweet 
In Utiea, where thou didst leave those weeds, 
That in the last great day will shine so bright. 
For us the eternal edicts are unmoved : 
He breathes, and I of Minos am not bound, 3 
Abiding in that circle, where the eyes 
Of thy chaste Marcia 4 beam, who still in look 

i A Dame from heaven.] Beatrice. See Hell, ii. 54. 
2 The farthest gloom.'] L'ultima sera. 
So Ariosto, O. F., canto xxxiv. si. 59. 

Che non han visto ancor l'ultima sera. 
And Filicaja, canto ix. Al Sonno. 

L'ultima sera. 
And Mr. Mathias, Canzone a Guglielmo Roscoe premessa cJ \n 
Storia della Poesia Italiana, p. 13. 

Di morte non vedra l'ultima sera. 
i Of Minos am not bound.] See Hell, v. 4. 
4 Marcia.] 

Da foedera prisci 

Illibata tori : da tantum nomen inane 
Connubii •. liceat tumulo scripsisse, Catonis 
Martia. * Lucan. Phars., lib. ii. 344 

Our author's habit of putting an allegorical interpretation 
on every thing, a habit which appears to have descended to 
that age from certain fathers of the church, is nowhere 
more apparent than in his explanation of this passage. Sec 
Ctonvito, p. 211, "Marzia fu vergine," &c. "Marcia was a 



80-108. PURGATORY, Canto I. 229 

Prays thee, O hallow'd spirit ! to own her thine. 
Then by her love we implore thee, let us pass 
Through thy seven regions ;* for which, best thanks 
I for thy favor will to her return, 
If mention there below thou not disdain." 

" Marcia so pleasing in my sight was found." 
I Te< then to him rejoin'd, " while I was there, 
That all she ask'd me I was fain to grant. 
Now that beyond the accursed stream she dwells, 
She may no longer move me, by that law, 2 
Which was ordain'd me, when I .esued thence. 
Not so, if Dame from heaven, as thou sayst, 
Moves and directs thee ; then no flattery needs. 
Enough for me that in her name thou ask. 
Go therefore now : and with a slender reed 3 
See that thou duly gird him, and his face 
Lave, till all sordid stain thou wipe from thence. 
For not with eye, by any cloud obscured, 
Would it be seemly before him to come, 
Who stands the foremost minister in heaven. 
This islet all around, there far beneath, 
Where the wave beats it, on the oozy bed 
Produces store of reeds. No other plant, 
Cover'd with leaves, or harden'd in its stalk, 
There lives, not bending to the water's sway. 
After, this way return not ; but the sun 
Will show you, that now rises, where to take 4 
The mountain in its easiest ascent." 

He disappear'd ; and I myself upraised 



vircin, and in that state she signifies childhood ; then s'ne 
came to Cato, and in that state, she represents youth ; she 
then bare children, by whom are represented the virtues that 
we have said belong to that age." Dante would surely have 
done well to remember his own rule laid down in the De 
Monarch., lib. iii. " Advertendum, &c." "Concerning the 
mystical sense it must De observed that we may err in two 
ways, either by seeing it where it is not, or by taking it other- 
wise than it ought to be taken/' 

1 Through thy seven regions.] The seven rounds of Pur- 
gatory, in which the seven capital sins are punished. 

2 By that law.] When he was delivered by Christ from 
limbo, a change of affections accompanied his change of 
place. 

3 A slender reed.] The reed is here supposed, with suffi- 
cient probability, to be meant for a type of simplicity and 
patience. 

4 Where to take.] " Prendere il monte," a reading which 
Lombardi claims for his favorite Nidobeatina edition, is also 
Touud in Landino's of 1481. 

20 



230 THE VISION. 109 13€ 

Speechless, and to my guide retiring close, 
Toward him turn'd mine eyes. He thus began • 
" My son ! observant thou my steps pursue. 
We must retreat to rearward ; for that way 
The champain to its low extreme declines." 

The dawn had chased the matin hour of prime> 
Which fled before it, so that from afar 
I spied the trembling of the ocean stream. 1 

We traversed the deserted plain, as one 
Who, wander'd from his track, thinks every step 
Trodden in vain till he regain the path. 

When we had come, where yet the tender dew 
Strove with the sun, and in a place where fresh 
The wind breathed o'er it, while it slowly dried \ 
Both hands extended on the watery grass 
My master placed, in graceful act and kind. 
Whence I, of his intent before apprized, 
Stretch'd out to him my cheeks suffused with tears 
There to my visage he anew restored 
That hue which the dun shades of hell conceal'd 

Then on the solitary shore arrived, 
That never sailing on its waters saw 
Man that could after measure back his course, 
He girt me in such manner as had pleased 
Him who instructed ; and O strange to tell ' 
As he selected every humble plant, 
Wherever one was pluck'd, another 2 there 
Resembling, straightway in its place arose 

CANTO II. 

ARGUMENT. 

They behold a vessel under conduct of an angel, coming 
over the waves with spirits to Purgatory, among whom, 
when the passengers have landed, Dante recognises his 
friend Casella ; but, while they are entertained by him 
with a song, they hear Cato exclaiming against their negli- 
gent loitering, and at that rebuke hasten forwards to the 
mountain. 

1 I spied the trembling of the ocean stream.'^ 
Conobbi il tremolar della marina. 
So Trissino in the Sofonisba. 

E resta in tremolar l'onda marina. 
Awl Fortiguerra, Riccftirdetto, canto ix. st. 17. 

visto il tremolar della marina* 

P Another.] From Virg. ^En., lib. vi. 143 
Primo avolso non delicit alter. 



1-25. PURGATORY, Canto IX. <J3l 

Now had the sun 1 to that horizon reach'd, 
That covers, with the most exalted point 
Of its meridian circle, Salem's walls ; 
And night, that opposite to him her orb 
Rounds, from the stream of Ganges issued foi th, 
Holding the scales, 2 that from her hands are dropp'd 
When she reigns highest : 3 so that where I was, 
Aurora's white and vermeil-tinctured cheek 
To orange turn'd 4 as she in age increased. 

Meanwhile we linger'd by the water's brink 
Like men, 5 who, musing on their road, in thought 
Journey, while motionless the body rests. 
When lo ! as, near upon the hour of dawn, 
Through the thick vapors 6 Mars with fiery beam 
Glares down in west, over the ocean floor ; 
So seem'd, what once again I hope to view, 
A light, so swiftly coming through the sea, 
N"o winged course might equal its career. 
From which when for a space I had withdrawn 
Mine eyes, to make inquiry of my guide, 
Again I look'd, and saw it grown in size 
And brightness : then on either side appear'd 
Something, but what I knew not, of bright hue, 
&nd by degrees from underneath it came 
Another. My preceptor silent yet 

jYt>w had the sun.] Dante was now antipodal to Jerusa- 
.em ; so that while the sun was setting with respect to that 
place, which he supposes to be the middle of the inhabited 
earth, to him it was rising. See Routh's Reliquiae Sacrae, 
torn. iii. p. 256. 
So Fazio degli Uberti, Dittamondo, lib. vi. cap. vi 

questo monte e quello 

Ch' in mezzo il mondo apunto si divisa. 

2 The scales.] The constellation Libra. 

3 When she reigns highest.] "Quando soverchia" is (ac 
cording to Venturi, whom I have followed) " when the au 
tumnal equinox is passed." Lombardi supposes it to mean 
" when the nights begin to increase, that is, after the sum- 
mer solstice." 

4 To orange turned.] "L'aurora gia di vermiglia comin- 
ciava appressandosi il sole a divenir rancia." Boccaccio, 
Decani., G. iii., at the beginning. See notes to Hell, xxiii. 101 

5 Like men.] Che va col cuore e col corpo din.ora. 
So Frezzi : 

E mentre il corpo posa, col cor varca 

II Quadrir., lib. iv. cap. 8 

6 Through the thick vapors.] So in the Convito, p. f2. 
* Esso pare, &c." " He (Mars) appears more or less inflamed 
with heat, according to the thickness or rarity of the vapors 
that follow him." 



232 THE VISION. 26-54 

Stood, while the brightness, that we first discern'd, 
Open'd the form of wings : then when he knew 
The pilot, cried aloud, " Down, down ; bend low 
Thy knees ; behold God's angel : fold thy hands 

Xow shalt thou see true ministers indeed. 

Lo ! how all human means he sets at naught ; 

So that nor oar he needs, nor other sail 

Except his wings, 1 between such distant shores. 

Lo ! how straight up to heaven he holds them recti" d 

Winnowing the air with those eternal plumes. 

That not like mortal hairs fall off or change.'* 5 

As more and more toward us came, more bright 
Appear" d the bird of God, nor could the eye 
Endure his splendor near : I mine bent down 
He drove ashore in a small bark so swift 
And light, that in its course no wave it drank. 
The heavenly steersman at the prow was seen, 
Visibly written Blessed in his looks. 
Within, a hundred spirits and more there sat. 

" In Exitu 3 Israel de Egypto," 
All with one voice together sang, with what 
[n the remainder of that hymn is writ. 
Then soon as with the sign of holy cross 
He bless'd them, they at once leap'd out on land . 
He, swiftly as he came, return" d. The crew, 
There left, appear'd astounded with the place, 
Gazing around, as one who sees new sights. 

From ever}- side the sun darted his beams, 
A.nd with his arrowy radiance" 4 from mid heaven 

1 Except his icings. J Hence Milton : 

Who after came from earth, sailing arrived 
Wafted by angels. P.L.. b. iii. ver. .'r2l 

2 Winnowing the air.] 

Trattando l'aere con l'eterne penne. 
So Filicaja. canz. viii. st 11. 

Ma trattar l'aere coll' eterne piume 

3 In Exitu.] "When Israel came out of Egypt.'"' Ps. cxi? 

4 With his arrowy radiance.] So Milton: 

and now went forth the morn : 

from before her vanish'd night. 

Shot through with orient beams. P. L., b. vi. ver. 15. 
This has been regarded by some critics as a conceit, intc 
which Milton was betrayed by the Italian poets : but it is is 
truth authorized by one of the correctest of the Grecians. 
*Ov a\6\a r if ivapi^ouiva 
tIktcl. Karevid^st re. o^oytlofievov 
"A\toi>. 'Sophocles, Trachin., Ml. 



55-86. PURGAT0R1 Canto il. 233 

Had chased the Capricorn, when that strange tribe, 
Lifting their eyes toward ns: " If ye know, 
Declare what path will lead us to the mount/*' 

Them Virgil answer'd : " Ye suppose, perchance. 
Us well acquainted with this place : but here, 
We, as yourselves, are strangers. Not long erst 
We came, before you but a little space, 
By other road so rough and hard, that now 
The ascent will seem to us as play." The spirits, 
Who from my breathing had perceived I lived, 
Grew pale with wonder. As the multitude 
Flock round a herald sent with olive branch, 
To hear what news he brings, and in their haste 
Tread one another down ; e'en so at sight 
Of me those happy spirits were fix'd, each one 
Forgetful of its errand to depart 
Where, cleansed from sin, it might be made all fair 

Then one I saw darting before the rest 
With such fond ardor to embrace me, I 
To do the like was moved. O shadows vain ! 
Except in outward semblance : thrice my hands 1 
I clasp'd behind it, they as oft return'd 
Empty into my breast again. Surprise 
I need must think was painted in my looks, 
For that the shadow smiled and backward drew. 
To follow it I hasten'd, but with voice 
Of sweetness it enjoin'd me to desist. 
Then who it was I knew, and pray'd of it, 
To talk with me it would a little pause. 
It answer'd: " Thee as in my mortal frame 
I loved, so loosed from it I love thee still, 
And therefore pause : but why walkest thou here V s 



Ecco dinanzi a te fugge repente 
Saettata la notte. 

Marini. Son. al Sig. Cinthio Aldobrandino. 
1 Thrice my hands.'] 

Ter conatus ibi collo dare brachia circum, 
Ter frustra comprensa maims effugit imago ; 
Par levibus ventis vomerique simillima somno. 

Virg. JEn., ii. 794. 
Compare Homer, Od., xi. 205. 

The incident in the text is pleasantly alluded to in that de 
Hghtfui book, the Capricci del Botaio o'f Gelli, (Opere. Milan. 
1805, v. ii. p. 26.) of which there is an English translation 
entitled "The Fearfull Fancies of the Florentine Cooper. 
Written in Toscane, by John Baptist Gelli, one of the free 
studie of Florence. And for recreation translated into Eng* 
£sh b W. Barker." 8°. Lond., 1599. 



234 THE VISION 87-10* 

" Not without purpose once more to return, 
Thou find'st me, my Casella, 1 where I am, 2 
Journeying this way," I said : " but how of thee 
Hath so much time been lost?" 3 He answer V 
straight : 

" No outrage hath been done to me, if he, 4 
Who when and whom he chooses takes, hath oft 
Denied me passage here ; since of just will 
His will he makes. These three months past 5 in- 
He, whoso chose to enter, with free leave [deed. 

Hath taken ; whence I wandering by the shore 6 
Where Tiber's wave grows salt, of him gain'd kind 
Admittance, at that river's mouth, toward which 
His wings are pointed ; for there always throng 
All such as not to Acheron descend." 

Then I : "If new law taketh not from thee 
Memory or custom of love -tuned song, 

1 My Casella.] A Florentine, celebrated for his skill in 
music, " in whose company," says Landino, " Dante often 
recreated his spirits, wearied by severer studies." See Dr. 
Burney's History of Music, vol. ii. cap. iv. p. 322. Milton 
has a fine allusion to this meeting in his sonnet to Henry 
Lawes, 

Dante shall give fame leave to set thee higher 
Than his Casella, whom he wooed to sing, 
Met in the milder shades of Purgatory, 
a Where I am.] "La dove io son." Lombardi under- 
stands this differently: "Not without purpose to return 
again to the earth, where I am ; that is, where I usually 
dwell." 

3 Hath so much time been lost.] There is some uncertainty 
in this passage. If we read 

Ma a te com' era tanta terra tolta 1 
with the Nidobeatina and Aldine editions, and many MSS., 
it signifies " Why art thou deprived of so desirable a region 
as that of Purgatory 1 why dost thou not hasten to be cleansed 
of thy sins 7" If with the Academicians della Crusca, we 
read, 

Diss 'io, ma a te come tant' ora e tolta 1 

whicn is not destitute of authority to support it, and which 
has the advantage over the other, as it marks Dante's 
speech from Casella's, then it must mean as I have trans- 
lated it, " Why hast thou lost so much time in arriving 
here ?" Lombardi, who is for the former reading, supposes 
Casella to be just dead; those who prefer the latter, sup- 
pose him to have been dead for some years, but now only just 
arrived. 

4 He.] The conducting angel. 

5 These three months past.] Since the time of the Jubilee, 
during which all spirits not condemned to eternal punish 
ment were supposed to pass over to Purgatory as soon as they 
pleased. 

« The shore.] Ostia 



I03-12G. PURGATORY, Canto II. 235 

That whilom all my cares had power to suage ; 
Please thee therewith a little to console 
My spirit, that encumber'd with its frame, 
Travelling so far, of pain is overcome." 

" Love, that discourses in my thoughts," 1 he then 
Began in such soft accents, that within 
The sweetness thrills me yet. My gentle guide. 
And all who came with him, so well were pleased. 
That seem'd naught else might in their thoughts 
have room. 

Fast fix'd in mute attention to his notes 
We stood, when lo ! that old man venerable 
Exclaiming, " How is this, ye tardy spirits ? 
What negligence detains you loitering here ? 
Run to the mountain to cast off those scales, 
That from your eyes the sight of God conceal." 

As a wild flock of pigeons, to their food 
Collected, blade or tares, without their pride 
Accustom'd, and in still and quiet sort, 
If aught alarm them, suddenly desert 
Their meal, assail'd by more important care ; 
So I that new-come troop beheld, the song 
Deserting, hasten to the mountain's side, 
As one 3 who goes, yet, where he tends, knows not. 

Nor with less hurried step did we depart. 



CANTO III. 

ARGUMENT. 

Our Poet, perceiving no shadow except that cast by his own 
body, is fearful that Virgil has deserted him ; but he is 
freed from that error, and both arrive together at the 
foot of the mountain : on finding it too steep to climb, 
they inquire the way from a troop of spirits that are 
coming towards them, and are by them shown which is 
the easiest ascent. Manfredi, king of Naples, who is 
one of these spirits, bids Dante inform his daughter 
Costanza, queen of Aragon, of the manner in which ha 
had died. 

Them sudden flight had scatter'd o'er the plain, 
Turn'd towards the mour tain, whither reason's voice 

1 " Love, that discourses in my thoughts."] 

" Amor che nella mente mi ragiona." 
The first verse of a canzone in the Convito of Dante, which 
he again cites in his treatise de Vulg. Eloq., lib. ii. cap. 6. 

2 As one.] Com' uom, che va, ne sa dove riesca. 
Bo Frezzi : 

Come chi va, ne sa dove camina. 

II Quadrir., lib. \. cap. 3. 



THE VISION. 



L-'do 

Drives ::s: I omv faithful 
Adhering, left it not. F:: 

DrDriTcl I-— I :--•- SOr 

w.-Vi .-:,- --~. -- : — 

He. vrl± ::-e i. — ;— ;:- :: 



A7i d7far77:77777_ ^77::' I 77" 

His 7i7 :777: 777: ~ " 7:777177 
Wilii feai ang efL when I heheld 

Wh- ^ r:v so"-.--. -::.:- ' i d. 

Besoiiie :::e kidlv : •■ Wbv ci;s:r.Ls:,s: :;:c 
BelTeres: -:■: I iri w::h ::^, tav sure r-^de 

t7~": : 7 V77: 7 ".i'l V:-!s: :." 7: i77777d 
To Xap'.'es 4 :"::.:; Br.-cu.si---'s vr ::"_;. No: 

More 77:777 ^e^iTeT 77:; 
L»::e riv obs:ruc:.s no: o:iie:. T: e::. i ere 
T:::::ez:s :■:' ::ei: and c:id ex:re:i;e. like :: 






Phvsi: 



5 JT'-;-^ ; r ;" ; L: 

tkm, a different meaning 

s.5iir i :: :iie vri-ris. 

Cle "r.vfrs: '1 c: 
:-.r : wii'.i c :nsir-f :ji 
nay othef mountain al 
if'.le ;.: rie if", r.ire."' 
.v.- : h:- s : .. ::.._.:.t : 
Lis Pr:;:s-, 
_ * TV _.V:r::5.; Virri; 



SI -30 PURGATORY, Canto III 237 

That virtue hath disposed, which, how it works, 

Wills not to us should be reveal'd. Insane, 

Who hopes our reason may that space explore, 

Which holds three persons in one substance knit. 

Seek not the wherefore, race of human kind ; 

Could ye have seen the whole, no need had been 

For Mary to bring forth. Moreover, ye 

Have seen such men desiring fruitlessly ; J 

To whose desires, repose would have been given, 

That now but serve them for eternal grief. 

I speak of Plato, and the Stagirite, 

And others many more." And then he bent 

Downwards his forehead, and in troubled mood 3 

Broke off his speech. Meanwhile we had arrived 

Far as the mountain's foot, and there the rock 

Found of so steep ascent, that nimblest steps 

To climb it had been vain. The most remote, 

Most wild, untrodden path, in all the tract 

'Twixt Lerice and Turbia, 3 were to this 

A ladder easy and open of access. [clines ?" 

;; Who knows on which hand now the steep de- 
My master said, and paused ; " so that he may 
Ascend, who journeys without aid of wins: I" 
And while, with looks directed to the ground, 
The meaning of the pathway 4 he explored, 
And I gazed upward round the stony height ; 
On the left hand appear'd to us a troop 
Of spirits, that toward us moved their steps ; 
Yet moving seem'd not, they so slow approaclvd. 

I thus my guide address'd: "Upraise thine eyes: 

1 Desiring- fruitlessly.] See Hell, Canto iv. 39. 

2 In troubled mood.] Because he himself (Virgil) was 
among the number of spirits who thus desired without 
hope. 

3 ' Ticixt Lerice and Turbia.] At that time the two extre- 
mities of the Genoese republic ; the former on the east, the 
latter on the west. A very ingenious writer has had occa- 
sion, for a different purpose, to mention one of these places as 
remarkably secluded by its mountainous situation. " On an 
eminence among the mountains, between the two little cities, 
Xice and Monaco, is the village of Tcrbia, a name formed 
from the Greek rpdnaia." Mitford on the Harmony of Lan- 
guage, sect. xv. p. 351, 2d edit. 

4 The meaning of the pathic ay >.] Lombardi reads, 

tenea 1' viso basso, 

Esaminando del cammin la mente, 
Mid explains it, " he bent down his face, his mind being occn 
pied with considering their way to ascend the mountain." J 
toubt much whether the words can bear that construction- 



233 



THE VISION. 



61-9? 



Lo ! that way some, of whom thou mayst obtain 
Counsel, if of thyself thou find'st it not." [plied 

Straightway he look'd, and with free speech r» 
n Let us tend thither : they but softly come. 
And thou be firm in hope, my son beloved." 

Xow was that crowd from us distant as far, 
(When we some thousand steps, 1 I say, had pass'd) 
As at a throw the nervous arm could fling ; 
When all drew backward on the massy crags 
Of the steep bank, and firmly stood unmoved, 
As one, who walks in doubt, might stand to look. 

" O spirits perfect ! O already chosen !" 
Virgil to them began : " by that blest peace, 
Which as I deem, is for you all prepared, 
II struct us where the mountain low declines, 
So that attempt to mount it be not vain. 
For who knows most, him loss of tune most grieves.'' 

As sheep, 2 that step from forth their fold, by one, 
Or pairs, or three at once ; meanwhile the rest 
Stand fearfully, bending the eye and nose 
To ground, and what the foremost does, that do 
The others, gathering round her if she stops, 
Simple and quiet, nor the cause discern : 
So saw I moving to advance the first, 
Who of that fortunate crew were at the head, 
Of modest mien, and graceful in their gait. 
When they before me had beheld the light 
From my right side fall broken on the ground, 
So that the shadow reach'd the cave : they stopp'd, 
And somewhat back retired : the same did all 
Who follow'd, though unweeting of the cause 

" Unask'd of you, yet freely I confess, 
This is a human body which ye see. 
That the sun's light is broken on the ground, 
Marvel not : but believe, that not without 
Virtue derived from Heaven, we to climb 
Over tills wall aspire." So them bespake 



1 TVrien we some thousand steps.] Mr. Carlyle puts a query 
to my former translation of this passage. It was eertainlj' 
erroneous. 

2 jBs sheep.] The imitative nature of these animals sup- 
plies our Poet with another comparison, in his Convito., p. 34. 
" Questi sono da chiamare pecore.*' Sec. "These may be 
called flocks of sheep and not men ; for if one sheep should 
throw himself down a precipice of a thousand feet all the 
rest would follow ; and if one for any cause in passing a road 
ihouid leap, all the rest would do the same, though thev saw 
nothing to leap over ; ' 



98-111. PURGATORY, Canto III. 23D 

My master ; and that virtuous tribe rejoin'd 
' Turn, and before you there the entrance Les ," 
Making a signal to us with bent hands. 

Then of them one began : " Whoe'er thou art, 
Who journey'st thus this way, thy visage turn ; 
Think if me elsewhere thou hast ever seen." 

I towards him turn'd, and with fix'd eye beheld.. 
Comely and fair, and gentle of aspect 
He seem'd, but on one brow a gash was mark'd. 

When humbly I disclaim'd to have beheld 
Him ever : " Now behold !" he said, and show'd 
High on his breast a wound : then smiling spake. 

" I am Manfredi, 1 grandson to the Queen 
Costanza : 2 whence I pray thee, when ret inrd, 



1 Manfredi.'] King of Naples and Sicil r, and the natural 
son of Frederick II. He was lively and agreeable in his 
manners, and delighted in poetry, music, and dancing. But 
he was luxurious and ambitious, void of religion, and in his 
philosophy an Epicurean. See G. Villani, lib. vi. cap. xlvii., 
and Mr. Mathias's Tiraboschi, vol. i. p. 99. He fell in the 
battle with Charles of Anjou, in 1265, alluded to in Canto 
xx^iii. of Hell, ver. 13, or rather in that which ensued in the 
course of a few days at Benevento. But the successes of 
Charles were so rapidly followed up, that our author, exact 
as he generally is, might not have thought it necessary to 
distinguish them in point of time ; for this seems the best 
method of reconciling some little apparent inconsistency be- 
tween him and the annalist. " Dying excommunicated, 
King Charles did not allow of his being buried in sacred 
ground, but he was interred near the bridge of Benevento ; 
and on his grave there was cast a stone by every one of the 
army, whence there was formed a great mound of stones. 
But some have said, that afterwards, by command of the 
Pope, the Bishop of Cosenza took up his body, and sent it 
out of the kingdom, because it was the land of the church ; 
and that it was buried by the river Verde, on the borders of 
the kingdom and of Campagna. This, however, we do not 
affirm." G. Villani, Hist., lib. vii. cap. 9. Manfredi and his 
father are spoken of by our Poet in his De Vulg. Eloq., lib. i. 
cap. 12, with singular commendation. " Siquidem illustres," 
&c. " Those illustrious worthies, Frederick the Emperor, 
and his well-born son Manfredi, manifested their nobility and 
uprightness of form, as long as fortune remained, by follow- 
ing pursuits worthy of men, and disdained those which aro 
suited only to brutes. Such, therefore, as were of a lofty 
spirit, and graced with natural endowments, endeavored to 
walk in the track which the majesty of such great princes 
had marked out for them: so that whatever was in their 
.ime attempted by eminent Italians, first made its appearance 
in the court of crowned sovereigns ; and because Sicily was 
a royal throne, it came to pass that whatever was produced 
in the vernacular tongue by our predecessors was called Sici 
lian; which neither we nor our posterity shall be able tc 
change." 

2 Cestanza.] See Paradise, Canto hi. 121. 



240 THE VISION Jjft-Mi 

To my fair daughter 1 go, the parent glad 

Of Aragonia and Sicilia's pride ; 

And of the truth inform her, if of me 

Aught else be told. When by two mortal blows 

My frame was shatter'd, I betook myself 

Weeping to him, who of free will forgives. 

My sins were horrible : but so wide arms 

Hath goodness infinite, that it receives 

All who turn to it. Had this text divine 

Been of Cosenza's shepherd better scann'd, 

Who then by Clement 2 on my hunt was set, 

Yet at the bridge's head my bones had lam, 

Near Benevento, by the heavy mole 

Protected ; but the rain now drenches them, 

And the wind drives, out of the kingdom's bounds, 

Far as the stream of Verde, 3 where, with lights 

Extinguish'd, he removed them from their bed. 

Yet by their curse we are not so destroy 'd, 

But that the eternal love may turn, while hope 4 

Retains her verdant blossom. True it is, 

That such one as in contumacy dies 

Against the holy church, though he repent, 

Must wander thirty-fold for. all the time 

In his presumption pass'd ; if such decree 

Be not by prayers of good men shorter made. 

Look therefore if thou canst advance my bliss ; 

Revealing to my good Costanza, how 

Thou hast beheld me, and beside, the terms 

Laid on me of that interdict ; for here 

By means of those below much profit comes." 



1 My fair daughter.] Costanza, the daughter of Manfred], 
and wife of Peter III., king of Aragon, by whom she was 
mother to Frederick, king of Sicily, and James, king of Ara- 
gon. With the latter of these she was at Rome 1296. See 
G. Villani, lib. viii. cap. 18, and Notes to Canto vii. 

2 Clement.] Pope Clement IV 

3 The stream of Verde.] A river near Ascoli, that falls into 
the Tronto. The " extinguished lights" formed part of the 
ceremony at the interment of one excommunicated. 

Passa la mora di Manfre, cui lava 

II Verde. 

, TTberti, Dittamondo, lib. iii. cap, i., as 

corrected by Perticari 
« Hope.] 

Mentre che la speranza ha fior del verde . 
So Tasso, G. L., Canto xix. st. 53. 

infm che verde e fior di speme 



1-7 PURGATORY, Canto IV. 2i\ 

CANTO IV. 



ARGUMENT. 

Dante and Virgil ascend the mountain of Purgatory, by a 
steep and narrow path pent in on each side by rock, till 
they reach a part of it that opens into a ledge or cornice. 
There seating themselves, and turning to the east, Dante 
wonders at seeing the sun on their left, the cause of which 
is explained to him by Virgil ; and while they continue 
their discourse, a voice addresses them, at which they turn, 
and find several spirits behind the rock, and among the rest 
one named Belacqua, who had been known to our Poet on 
earth, and who tells that he is doomed to ."inger there on 
account of his having delayed his repentance to the last. 

When 1 by sensations of delight or pain, 
That any of our faculties hath seized, 
Entire the soul collects herself, it seems 
She is intent upon that power alone ; 
And thus the error is disproved, which holds 
The soul not singly lighted in the breast. 
xAnd therefore whenas aught is heard or seen, 

i When.] It must be owned the beginning of this Canto is 
somewhat obscure. Vellutello refers, for an elucidation of it, 
to the reasoning of Statius in the twenty-fifth Canto. Per- 
haps some illustration may be derived from the following 
passage in the Summa Theologiae of Thomas Aquinas. " Some 
say that in addition to the vegetable soul, which was present 
from the first, there supervenes another soul, which is the 
sensitive, and again, in addition to that, another, which is 
the intellective. And so there are in man three souls, one of 
which exists potentially with regard to another : but this has 
been already disproved. And accordingly others say that 
that same soul, which at first was merely vegetative, is, 
through action of the seminal virtue, carried forward till it 
reaches to that point in which, being still the same, it never- 
theless becomes sensitive ; and at length the same by an ul- 
terior progression is led on till it becomes intellective ; not, 
indeed, through the seminal virtue acting in it, but by virtue 
of a superior agent, that is, God, enlightening it from with- 
out." (This opinion he next proceeds to confute.) " Dicunt 
ergo quidam qubd supra animam vegetabilem, quae primo in- 
erat, supervenit alia anima, qua? est sensitiva, supra illam 
iterum alia quae est intellectiva. Et sic sunt in homine tres 
anima?, quarum una est in potentia ad aliam, quod supra im- 
probatum est. Et ideo alii dicunt, quod ilia eadem anima, 
quae primo fuit vegetativa tantum, postmodum per actionem 
virlutis, qiue est in semine, perducitur ad hoc, ut ipsa eadem 
fiat sensitiva ; et tandem ipsa eadem perducitur ad hoc, ut 
ipsa eadem fiat intellectiva, non quidem per virtutem acti- 
vam seminis, sed per virtutem superioris agentis, scilicet Dei 
ileforis illustrantis." Thorn. Aquin. Opera. Edit. Venet., 1595, 
torn, x.; Summa Tlieolog. lma Pars., Qucestio cxviii. Art. ii 
See also Lettere di Fra Guittone, 4°. Roma, 1745, p. 15 ; and 
Routh's note on the Gorgias of Plate p. 451. 
21 



W2 THE VISION. 3-H 

Tait firmly keeps the soul toward it turn'a 
Time passes, and a man perceives it not. 
For that, whereby we hearken, is one powei ; 
Another that, which the whole spirit hath : 
This is as it were bound, while that is free. 

This found I true by proof, hearing that spiiit, 
And wondering ; for full fifty steps 1 aloft 
The sun had measured, unobserved of me, 
When we arrived where all with one accord 
The spirits shouted, " Here is what ye ask." 

A larger aperture oft-times is stopp'd, 
With forked stake of thorn by villager, 
When the ripe grape imbrowns, than was the pa„hi 
By which my guide, and I behind him close, 
Ascended solitary, when that troop 
Departing left us. On Sanleo's 2 road 
Who journeys, or to Noli 3 low descends, 
Or mounts Bismantua's 4 height, must use his feet ; 
Biu here a man had need to fly, I mean 
With the swift wing 5 and plumes of high desire, 
Conducted by his aid, who gave me hope, 
And with light furnish'd to direct my way. 

We through the broken rock ascended, close 
Pent on each side, while underneath the ground 
Ask'd help of hands and feet. When we arrived 
Near on the highest ridge of the steep bank, 
Where the plain level open'd, I exclaim'd, 
" O Master ! say, which way can we proceed." 

He answer'd, " Let no step of thine recede. 
Behind me gain the mountain, till to us 
Some practised guide appear." That eminence 
Was lofty, that no eye might reach its point ; 
And the side proudly rising, more than line 6 
From the mid quadrant to the centre drawn. 
I, wearied, thus began : " Parent beloved ! 
Turn and behold how I remain alone, 
If thou stay not." — " My son !" he straight replied, 

1 Full fifty steps.] Three hours and twenty minutes, fifteen 
degrees being reckoned to an hour. 

2 Sanleo.] A fortress on the summit of Montefeltro. The 
situation is described by Troya, Veltro Allegorico, p. 11. It 
is a conspicuous object to travellers along the cornice on the 
riviera di Genoa. 

3 JVo/i'.] In "he Genoese territory, between Finale and 3a- 
vona. 

4 Bismantaa. A steep mountain in the territory of Reggia 

5 With the swift wing.) Compare Paradise, Canto xxxiii. 17 

6 More than line.] It was much nearer to being perpendte 
ttlar than horizontal. 



45-69 PURGATORY, Canto IV. 243 

" Thus far put forth thy strength ;." and to a track 
Pointed, that, on this side projecting, round 
Circles the hill. His words so spurr'd me on, 
That T, behind him, clambering, forced myself, 
Till my feet press'd the circuit plain beneath. 
There both together seated, turn'd we round 
To eastward, whence was our ascent : and oft 
Many beside have with delight look'd back. 

First on the nether snores I turn'd mine eyes, 
Then raised them to the sun, and wondering markM 
That from the left 1 it smote us. Soon perceived 
That poet sage, how at the car of light 
Amazed' 2 I stood, where 'twixt us and the north 
Its course it enter'd. Whence he thus to me : 
'• Were Leda's offspring 3 now in company 
Of that broad mirror, that high up and low 
Imparts his light beneath, thou mightst behold 
The ruddy Zodiac nearer to the Bears 
Wheel, if its ancient course it not forsook. 
How that may be, if thou wouldst think ; within 
Pondering, imagine Sion with this mount 
Placed on the earth, so that to both be one 
Horizon, and two hemispheres apart, 
Where lies the path 4 that Phaeton ill knew 
To guide his erring chariot : thou wilt see 5 



1 From the left.] Vellutello observes an imitation of Lucan 
in this passage : 

Ignotum vobis, Arabes, venistis in orbcm, 
Umbras mirati nemorum non ire sinistras. 

Phars., lib. iii. 24S. 

2 Amazed.] He wonders that being turned to the east he 
should see the sun on his left, since in all the regions on this 
side of the tropic of Cancer it is seen on the right of one 
who turns his face towards the east; not recollecting that 
he was now antipodal to Europe, from whence he had seen 
the sun taking an opposite course. 

3 Were Leda's offspring-.] ' 4 As the constellation of tho 
Gemini is nearer the Bears than Aries is, it is certain that if 
the sun, instead of being in Aries, had been in Gemini, both 
the sun and that portion of the Zodiac made ' ruddy' by the 
sun, would have been seen to ' wheel nearer to the Bears/ 
By the 'ruddy Zodiac' must necessari'y be understood that 
portion of the Zodiac affected or made red by the sun ', 
for the whole of the Zodiac never changes, nor appears to 
change, with respect to the remainder of the heavens." — 
Lovibardi. 

4 The path] The ecliptic. 

5 Thou will see.] "If you consider that this mountain of 
Purgatory, and that of Sion, are antipodal to each other, you 
will perceive that the sun must rise on opposite sides of tha 
respective eminences." 



244 THE VISION. 70 loa 

How of necessity by this, on one, 

He passes, while by that on the other side ; 

If with that clear view thine intellect attend." 

" Of truth, kind teacher !" I exclaim'd, " so cluar 
Aught saw I never, as I now discern, 
Where seem'd my ken to fail, that the mid orb' 
Of the supernal motion (which in terms 
Of art is call'd the Equator, and remains 
Still 'twixt the sun and winter) for the cause 
Thou hast assign'd, from hence toward the north 
Departs, when those, who in the Hebrew land 
Were dwellers, saw it towards the warmer part 
But if it please thee, I would gladly know, 
How far we have to journey : for the hill 
Mounts higher, than this sight of mine can mcuni K 

He thus to me : " Such is this steep ascent $ 
That it is ever difficult at first, 
But more a man proceeds, less evil grows. 2 
When pleasant it shall seem to thee, so much 
That upward going shall be easy to thee 
As in a vessel to go down the tide, 
Then of this path thou wilt have reach'd the end. 
There hope to rest thee from thy toil. No more 
I answer, and thus far for certain know." 
As he his words had spoken, near to us 
A voice there sounded : " Yet ye first perchance 
May to repose you by constraint be led." 
At sound thereof each turn'd ; and on the left 
A huge stone we beheld, of which nor I 
Nor he before was ware. Thither we drew ; 
And there were some, who in the shady place 
Behind the rock were standing, as a man 
Through idleness might stand. Among them one, 
Who seem'd to be much wearied, sat him down, 
And with his arms did fold his knees about, 
Holding his face between them downward bent. 

" Sweet Sir !" I cried, " behold that man who 
Himself more idle than if laziness [shows 

Were sister to him." Straight he turn'd to us, 



i That the mid orb.] " That the equator (which is always 
situated between that part where, when the sun is, he causes 
summer, and the other where his absence produces winter 
recedes from this mountain towards the north, at the time 
when the Jews inhabiting Mount Sion saw it depart towards 
the south." — Lombardi. 

2 But more a man proceeds, less evil grows.] Because in 
ascending he gets rid of the weight of Ids sins. 



109-135 PURGATORY, Canto IV. 245 

And, o'er the thigh lifting his face, observed, 
Then in these accents spake : " Up then, proceed, 
Thou valiant one." Straight who it was I knew 
Nor could the pain I felt (for want of breath 
Still somewhat urged me) hinder my approach. 
And when I came to him, he scarce his head 
Uplifted, saying, " Well hast thou discerned, 
How from the left the sun his chariot leads." 

His lazy acts and broken words my lips 
To laughter somewhat moved ; when I began : 
" Belacqua, 1 now for thee I grieve no more. 
But tell, why thou art seated upright there. 
Waitest thou escort to conduct thee hence ? 
Or blame I only thine accustom'd ways?" 
Then he : " My brother ! of what use to mount, 
When, to my suffering, would not let me pass 
The bird of God, 2 who at the portal sits? 
Behooves so long that heaven first bear me round 
Without its limits, as in life it bore ; 
Because I, to the end, repentant sighs 
Delay'd ; if prayer do not aid me first, 
That riseth up from heart which lives in grace 
What other kind avails, not heard in heaven?" 

Before me now the poet, up the mount 
Ascending, cried : " Haste thee : for see the sun 
Has touclrd the point meridian ; and the night 
Now covers with her foot Marocco's shore." 3 

i Belacqua.] Concerning this man, the commentators 
afford no information, except that in the margin of the 
Monte Cassino MS. there is found this brief notice of him : 
'• Ir-te Belacqua fuit optimus magister cithararum, et leuto- 
rum, et pigrissimns homo in operibus mundi sicut in operibns 
animce." "This Belacqua was an excellent master of the 
harp and lute, but very negligent in his affairs, both spiritual 
and temporal." Lettera di Eustazio Dicearcheo ad Angdix 
Sidicino. 4to. Roma. 1801. 

2 The bird of God.] Here are two other readings, •' Usciei 
and "Angel," "Usher" and "Angel" of God. 

3 Jlarocco's shore.] Cuopre la notte gia col pie Marocco 
Hence, perhaps, Milton : 

Damasco, or Marocco. or Trebisoncl. 

P. Z,., b. i. 584. 
Instead of Morocco, as he elsewhere calls it •. 
Morocco and Algiers and Tremisen. 

P. L., b. xi. 404. 
If the vowels were to change places, the \erse would is 
fccUl instances be spoiled 



246 THE VISION. 1-28 

CANTO V 

ARGUMENT. 

They meet with others, who had deterred thfir repentarvti 
till they were overtaken by a violent death, when sufficient 
space being allowed them, they were then saved ; and 
among these, Giacopo del Cassero, Buonconte da Mante- 
feltro, and Pia, a lady of Sienna. 

Now had I left those spirits, and pursued 
The steps of my conductor ; when behind. 
Pointing the finger at me. one exciaim'd : 
" See. how it seems as if the light not shone 
From the left hand 1 of him beneath, 2 and he, 
As living, seems to be led on.'' Mine eyes, 
I at that sound reverting, saw them gaze, 
Through wonder, first at me ; and then at me 
And the light broken underneath, by turns. 
" Why are thy thoughts thus riveted,'"' my guide 
Exciaim'd, " that thou hast slack'd thy pace ? or how 
Imports it thee, what thing is whisper'd here ? 
Come after me, and to their babblings leave 
The crowd. Be as a tower, 3 that, firmly set, 
Shakes not its top for any blast that blows. 
He, in whose bosom thought on thought shoots out, 
Still of his aim is wide, in that the one 
Sicklies and wastes to naught the other's strength.' 1 

What other could I answer, save " I come P s 
I said it, somewhat with that color tinged, 
Which oft-times pardon meriteth for man. 

Meanwhile traverse along the hill there came, 
A little way before us, some who sang 
The " Miserere" in responsive strains. 
When they perceived that through my body I 
Gave way not for the rays to pass, their song 

1 It srems as if the light not shone 

From the left hand.] The sun was, therefore, on the right 
of our travellers. For, as before, when seated and looking 
to the east from whence they had ascended, the sun was on 
their left ; so now that they have risen and are agaiD going 
forward, it must be on the opposite side of them. 

2 Gf him beneath.'} Of Dante, who was following Virgil n\. 
the mountain, and therefore was the lower of the two 

3 Be as a tower.] Sta come torre ferma. 
Bo Berni, Orl. Inn., lib. i. canto xvi. st. 48. 

In quei due piedi sta fermo il gigante 
Com' una torre in mezzo d'un castelio. 
Ind Milton, P. L / b. i. 591. 

Stood like a tower. 



Zi-GZ. I'URGATORY, Canto V. 24: 

Straight to a long and hoarse exclaim they changed ? 
And two of them, in guise of messengers, 
Ran on to meet us, and inquiring ask'd : 
" Of your condition we would gladly learn." 

To them my guide. " Ye may return, and bear 
Tidings to them who sent you, that his frame 
Is real flesh. If, as I deem, to view 
His shade they paused, enough is answer' d them : 
Him let them honor : they may prize him well." 

Ne'er saw I fiery vapors 1 with such speed 
Cut through the serene air at fall of night, 
Nor August's clouds athwart the setting sun. 
That upward these did not in shorter space 
Return ; and, there arriving, with the rest 
Wheel back on us, as with loose rein a troop. 

" Many," exclaim'd the bard, " are these, wl o 
Around us : to petition thee, they come. [throng 

Go therefore on, and listen as thou go'st." 

" O spirit ! who go'st on to blessedness, 
With the same limbs that clad thee at thy birth," 
Shouting they came : " a little rest thy step. 
Look if thou any one among our tribe 
Hast e'er beheld, that tidings of him there 2 
Thou mayst report. Ah, wherefore go'st thou on ? 
Ah, wherefore tarriest thou not? We all 
By violence died, and to our latest hour 
Were sinners, but then warn'd by light from heaven , 
So that, repenting and forgiving, we 
Did issue out of life at peace with God, 
Who, with desire to see him, fills our heart." 

Then I : " The visages of all I scan, 
Yet none of ye remember. But if aught 
That I can do may please you, gentle spirits ! 
Speak, and I will perform it ; by that peace, 
Which, on the steps of guide so excellent 
Following, from world to world, intent I seek " 

In answer he began : " None here distrusts 

1 JWer saw I fiery vapors.] Imitated by Tassc G. t*^ 
canto xix. st. 62. 

Tal suol fendendo liquido sereno 
Stella cader della gran rnadre in seno. 
And by Miltcn, P L., b. iv. 558. 

Swift as a shooting star 

In autumn thwarts the night, when vapors fired 
Impress the air. 
Compare Statins, Theb., i. 92. 

Ilicet ligne Jovis, lapsisque citaflor astris. 
There.\ Upon the earth. 



248 THE VISION. 64-90 

Thy kindness, though not promised with an oath ; 
So as the will fail not for want of power. 
Whence I, who sole before the others speak, 
Entreat thee, if thou ever see that land 1 
Which lies between Romagna and the realm 
Of Charles, that of thy courtesy thou pray 
Those who inhabit Fano, that for me 
Their adorations duly be put up, 
By which I may purge off my grievous sins. 
From thence I came. 2 But the deep passages, 
Whence issued out the blood 3 wherein I dwelt. 
Upon my bosom in Antenors land 4 
Were made, where to be more secure I thought 
The author of the deed was Este's prince, 
Who, more than right could warrant, with his wrath 
Pursued me. Had I towards Mira fled, 
When overtaken at Oriaco, still 
Might I have breathed. But to the marsh I sped ; 
And in the mire and rushes tangled there 
Fell, and beheld my life-blood float the plain." 
Then said another : " Ah ! so may the wish. 
That takes thee o'er the mountain, be fulfill'd, 
As thou shalt graciously give aid to mine. 
Of Montefeltro I ; 5 Buonconte I : 
Giovanna 6 nor none else have care for me ; 
Sorrowing with these I therefore go." I thus : 
" From Campaldino's field what force or chance 

1 Tliat land.] The Marca d'Ancona, between Romagna 
and Apulia, the kingdom of Charles of Anjou. 

2 From thence I came.\ Giacopo del Cassero, a citizen of 
Faho, who having spoken ill of Azzo da Este, Marquis of 
Ferrara, was by his orders put to death. Giacopo was over- 
taken by the assassins at Oriaco, a place near the Brenta^ 
from whence if he had fled towards Mira, higher up on thai 
river, instead of making for the marsh on the sea-shore, he 
might have escaped. 

3 The blood.] Supposed to be the seat of life. 

4 interior's land.] The city of Padua, said to be founded 
by Antenor. — This implies a reflection on the Paduans. See 
Hell, xxxii. 89. Thus G. Viilani calls the Venetians " the 
perfidious descendants from the blood of Antenor, the be 
trayer of his coun;ry, Troy." Lib. xi. cap. 89 

» Of MonieJ dtro /.J Buonconte (son of Guido da Monte- 
feltro,^ whom we have had in the twenty-seventh Canto of 
Hell) fell in the battle of Campaldino, (1289.) fighting on the 
side of the Aretini. In this engagement our Poet took a dis- 
tinguished part, as we have seen related in his life. See Fazio 
degli Uberti, Ditramondo, lib. ii. cap. xxix. 

6 Giovanna.] Either the wife, or a kinswoman of Buon 
tome 



91-1-20. PURGATORY, Canto V. 249 

Drew thee, that ne'er thy sepulture was known ?" 

" Oh !" answer'd he, " at Casentino's foot 
A stream there courseth, named Archiano, sprung 
In Apennine above the hermit's seat. 1 
E'en where its name is cancell'd, 2 there came I, 
Pierced in the throat, 3 fleeing away on foot, 
And bloodying the plain. Here sight and speech 
Fail'd me ; and, finishing with Mary's name, 
I fell, and tenantless my flesh remain' d. 
1 will report the truth ; which thou again 
Tell to the living. Me God's angel took, 4 
While he of hell exclaim'd : ' O thou from heaven ! 
' Say wherefore hast thou robb'd me ? Thou of him 
' Th' eternal portion bear'st with thee away, 
1 For one poor tear 5 that he deprives me of. 
* But of the other, other rule I make.' 

" Thou know'st how in the atmosphere collects 
That vapor dank, returning into water 
Soon as it mounts where cold condenses it. 
That evil will, 6 which in his intellect 
Still follows evil, came ; and raised the wind 
And smoky mist, by virtue of the power 
Given by his nature. Thence the valley, soon 
As day was spent, he cover'd o'er with cloud, 
From Pratomagno to the mountain range ; 7 
And stretclrd the sky above ; so that the air 
Impregnate changed to water. Fell the rain ; 
And to the fosses came all that the land 
Contain'd not ; and, as mightiest streams are wont, 
To the great river, with such headlong sweep, 



i The hermit's scat.] The hermitage of Camaldoli. 

2 Where its name is canceWd.~] That is, between Bibbiena 
and Poppi, where the Archiano falls into the Arno. 

3 Throat.\ In the former editions it was printed " heart." 
Mr. Carlyle has observed the error. 

4 Me God's angel took.] Cum autem finem vita? explesset 
servus Dei aspiciens vidit diabolum fimul et Angehim ad 
animam stantem ac unum qnemque inam sibi tollere festi- 
nantem. Alberici Visio, § 18. 

5 Far one poor tear.] Visum est quod angelus Domini la- 
chrimas quas dives ille fuderat in ampulla teneret. Al- 
berici Visio, § 18. 

6 That evil will.] The devil. Lombardi refers us to Alber- 
tus Magnus, de Potentia. Daemonum. This notion of the Evil 
Spirit having power ever the elements, appears to have arisen 
from his being termed the ' prince of the air,' in the New 
Testament. 

7 From Pratomagno to the mountain range.] From Prato- 
magno, now called Prato Vecchio (which divides the Val 
darno from Casentino) as far as to the Apenn/ne. 



850 THE VISION. 121-133 

Roab'd, that naught stayM its course. .My stdlen ? i 
Laid at his mouth, the fell Archiano found, [frame, 

A:d iash'd it into Arno ; from my breast 
Loo = -:,;::. the cm--, tmot :: :ooy^ :-.; I . /.:.:'.:- 
When overcome vim on. He hurl'd me on, 
v the banks and bottom of his course; 
his muddy spoils encircling wrapp'd." 
•• Ah ! when thou to the world shalt be return M ( 
after thy long road," so spake 
Next the third spirit : " then remember me. 
I 0:1:0 was Pi a. 1 Sienna gave me life; 
Ma: omnia took it from mo. To.: the knows, 
Who me oo:o;:to^: 00: do." 0:0: :o:::o::.' 



CANTO VI. 



ARGUMENT. 




Manv besides, who are in like case with those: 




me -em Cere ■ be^eeeh -or P-e: :•: 


- : " l ■■ 


vers ::~ :he:r mer.m. v.- hen he sheh be re:i 




world. This moves him to express a doubt 




h-"-.v hoe ee: ! :.-.:: ::e :r:rhe.l ' v h.e : rivers .- 




for the solution of which doubt he is referred 


:■: Be 01 rode 


Afterwaids he meets with Sordello the Mm 




aifection. shown to Virgil his countryman, lea 




break :' rfh into an invective igainsl the 00. 




sions with which Italy, and more especially Fl 


m: 


cted. 




When from their homo c: hoe mo: : :m 




Ho mh : d: :h ':■-.: memo- 0. : vm - node. 




Revolving in his mind 9 what luckless throi 


,vs 


He cast the c impair 


,- 


Go vrhh t: me b ecore h m mm. 




And one behind his mantle twitches, one 




Fast by hi side " h him remem ; m 




He stops not; 0:0b each one, to whom his 




Is stretolmi. mod k:m.m lo bido iiiioo stand 




- d She is said to have been a Siennese 




family of Toiommei, bc retlymade away 


by her hus- 


bm 1 Xeho mh. 1 . P.e'.re :f :he same cmv. :n M. :e: 


:.::.': ~ 


he h -.as im e: ssessier.s. 




- fi d hF in A£s wu/uf.] 




Eiinan dolente 





TLipetendo le volte, e triste impara. 
Lombaidi explains this: "That the loser remains by 

d i taking up the dice casts them over again, as if to 
learn how he may throw the numbers he could wish lo come 
no." There is something very natural in this; but whether 
the sen&j can be fairly deduced from the words, is another 
(location. 



10-23. FURGATORY Canto VI. 251 

And thus 1 he from the press defends himsel/'. 
E'en such was I in that close -crowding throng ; 
And turning so my face around to all, 
And promising, I 'scaped from it with pains. 

Here of x^rezzo him 2 I saw, who fell 
By Ghino's cruel arm ; and him beside, 3 
Who in his chase was swallow'd by the stream, 
H°re Frederic Novello, 4 with his hand 
Stretch'd forth, entreated ; and of Pisa he," 
Who put the good Marzuco to such proof 
Of constancy. Count Orso 6 I beheld ; 
And from its frame a soul dismiss'd for spite 
And envy, as it said, but for no crime ; 
I speak of Peter de la Brosse : 7 and here, 



i And thus.] The late Archdeacon Fisher pointed out to 
me a passage in the Novela de la Gitanilla of Cervantes, 
Ed. Valentia, 1797, p. 12, from which it appears that it was 
usual for money to be given to bystanders at play by win- 
ners ; and as he well remarked: " Dante is therefore de- 
scribing, with his usual power of observation, what he had 
often seen, the shuffling, boon-denying exit of the successful 
gamester." 

2 Of Arezzo him.] Benincasa of Arezzo, eminent for his 
skill in jurisprudence, who having condemned to death Tur- 
rido da Turrita, brother of Ghino di Tacco, for his robberies 
iu Maremma, was murdered by Ghino, in an apartment of his 
own house, in the presence of many witnesses. Ghino was 
not only suffered to escape in safety, but (as the commenta- 
tors inform us) obtained so high a reputation by the liberality 
with which he was accustomed to dispense the fruits of his 
plunder, and treated those who fell into his hands with so 
much courtesy, that he was afterwards invited to Rome, and 
kidghted by Boniface VIII. A story is told of him by Boc- 
caccio, G. x. X. 2. 

3 Him beside.] Cione, or Ciacco de' Tarlatti of Arezzo. He 
is said to have been carried by his horse into the Arno, and 
theie drowned, while he was in pursuit of certain of his en- 
emies. 

« Frederic JVovello.] Son of the Conte Guido da Battifolle, 
and slain by one of the family of Bostoli. 

5 Of Pisa he.] Farinata de' Scornigiani of Pisa. His fa- 
ther Marzuco, who had entered the order of the Frati Minori, 
so entirely overcame the feelings of resentment, that he even 
Kissed the hands of the slayer of his son, and, as he was 
following the funeral, exhorted his kinsmen to reconciliation. 
The eighteenth and thirtieth in the collection of Guittone 
d'Arezzo's Letters are addressed to Marzvico. The latter is 
in verse. 

6 Count Orso.l Son of Napoleone da Ceibaia, slain by 
Alberto da Man^ona, his uncle. 

7 Peter de la Brosse.] Secretary of Philip fll. of France 
The courtiers, envying the high place which he held in the 
king's favor, prevailed on Mary of Brabant to charge him 
falsely with an attempt upon her person ; for which supposed 
erime he suffered death. 



252 THE VISION. 84-51 

While she yet lives, that Lady of Brabant. 

Let her beware : lest for so false a deed 

She herd with worse than these. When I was freed 

From all those spirits,, who pray'd for others' prayer* 

To hasten on their state of blessedness : 

Straight I began: " O thou, my Luminary! 

It seems expressly in thy text 1 denied. 

That heaven's supreme decree can ever bend 

To supplication ; yet with this design 

Do these entreat. Can then their hope be vain? 

Or is thy saying not to me reveal'd •" 

He thus to me : •'•' Both what I write is plain, 
And these deceived not in their hope : if well 
Thy mind consider, that the sacred height 
Of judgment 2 doth not stoop, because love's flame 
In a short moment all mlms, which he. 
Who sojourns here, in right should satisfy. 
Besides, when I this point concluded thus. 
By praying no defect could be supplied; 
Because the prayer had none access to God. 
Yet in this deep suspicion rest thou not 
Contented, unless she assure thee so. 
Who betwixt truth and mind infuses light : 
[ know not if thou take me right ; I mean 
Beatrice. Her thou shalt behold above. 5 
Upon this mountain's crown, fair seat of joy." 

Then I : w Sir ! let us mend i ur speed ; for now 
I tire not as before : and lo ! the hill 4 

So say the Italian commentators. Henanlt represent? t* b 
matter very differently: "Pierre de la Brosse, formerly bar- 
ber to St. Louis, afterwards the favorite of Philip, fearing 
tbe too great attachment of the king for his wife Mary, ac- 
cuses this princess of having poisoned Louis, eldest son of 
Philip, by his first marriage. This calumny is discovei 
a nun of Nivelle in Flanders. La Brosse is hung." JSbregi 
Chron., 1275, fee. The Deputati. or those deputed to write 
annotations on the Decameron Boeci :oio. in 

the Giornata. ii. Novella 9, took the story from this passage 
in Dante, only concealing the real names and changing the 
incidents in some parts, in order not to wound the fnelinga 
jse whom, as it was believed, these incidents had so 
lately befallen. E liz. Ghmti. 1573, p. 40. 

'- In t;iv text.] He refers to Virgil, Mn^ lib. vi. 3 '5 
Desine fata deurn flecti sperare precando. 

2 The sacred height 

judgment.] 
So Shakspeare. Measure for Measure, act ii. sc. 2. 
If he, which is the top of judgment, 

3 dbove.) See Purgat.. c. xxx. v. 3:2. 

* The hill.] It was now past the ?non. 



52-75 PURGATORY, Casio VI. 253 

Stretches its shadow far." He answer' d thus : 
" Our progress with this day shall be as much 
As we may now dispatch ; but otherwise 
Than thou supposest is the truth. For there 
Thou canst not be, ere thou once more behold 
Him back returning, who behind the steep 
Is now so hidden, that, as erst, his beam 
Thou dost not. break. But lo ! a spirit there 
Stands solitary, and toward us looks : 
It will instruct us in the speediest way." 

We soon approach'd it. O thou Lombard spirit! 
How didst thou stand, in high abstracted mood, 
Scarce moving with slow dignity thine eyes. 
It spoke not aught, but let us onward pass, 
Eyeing us as a lion on his watch. 1 
But Virgil, with entreaty mild, advanced, 
Requesting it to show the best ascent. 
It answer to his question none return'd ; 
But of our country and our kind of life 
Demanded. When my courteous guide began, 
' ; Mantua," the shadow, in itself absorb'd, 2 
Rose towards us from the place in which it stood, 
And cried, ' ; Mantuan ! I am thy countryman, 
Sordello.'" 3 Each the other then embraced. 



1 Eyeing us as a lion on his watch.] 

A guisa di leon quando si posa. 
A line taken by Tasso, G. L., can. 3 st. 5G. 

2 The shadow, in itself absorbed.] I had before translated 
"The solitary shadow;" and have made the alteration in 
consequence of Monti's just remark on the original, that 
tutta in se romita does not mean " solitary," but " collected, 
concentrated in itself." See his Proposta under "Romito." 
Vellutello had shown him the way to this interpretation, 
when he explained the words by tutta in se raccotta e sola. 
Petrarch applies the expression to the spirit of Laura, when 
departing from the body. See his Triumph of Death, cap. i 
v. 152. 

3 Sordello.] The history of Sordello's life is wrapped in the 
obscurity of romance. That he distinguished himself by his 
skill in Provencal poetry is certain ; and many feats of mili- 
tary prowess have been attributed to him. It is probable 
that he was born towards the end of the twelfth, and died 
about the middle of the succeeding century. Tiraboschi, 
who terms him the most illustrious of all the Provencal 
poets of his age, has ta^en much pains to sift all the notices 
ne could collect relating to him, and has particularly ex- 
posed the fabulous narrative which Platina has introduced 
on this subject in his history of Mantua. Honorable men- 
tion of his name is made by our Poet in the treatise de 
Vulg. Eloq., lib. i. cap. 15, where it is said that, remarkable 
is he was for eloquence, he deserted the vernacular language 

92 



254 THE VISION. 76-91 

Ah, slavish Italy ! thou inn of grief! 1 
Vessel without a pilot in loud storm ! 
Lady no longer of fair provinces, 
But brothel -house impure ! this gentle spirit, 
Even from the pleasant sound of his dear land 
Was prompt to greet a fellow-citizen 
With such glad cheer : while now thy living ones' 
In thee abide not without war ; and one 
Malicious gnaws another ; ay, of those 
Whom the same wall and the same moat contains. 
Seek, wretched one ! around thy sea-coasts wide ; 
Then homeward to thy bosom turn ; and mark, 
If any part of thee sweet peace enjoy. 
What boots it, that thy reins Justinian's hand 3 
Refitted, if thy saddle be unpress'd? 
Naught doth he now but aggravate thy shame 
Ah, people ! thou obedient still shouldst live, 
And in the saddle let thy Caesar sit, 
If well thou markedst that which God commands. 4 

Look how that beast to fellness hath relapsed, 
From having lost correction of the spur, 
Since to the bridle thou hast set thine hand, 



of his own country, not only in his poems, but in every other 
kind of writing. Tiraboschi had at first concluded him to 
be the same writer whom Dante elsewhere (De Vulg. Eloq., 
lib. ii. c. 13) calls Gottus Mantuanus, but afterwards gave 
up that opinion to the authority of the Conte d'Arco and 
the Abate Bettinelli. By Bastero, in his Crusca Provenzale, 
Ediz. Roma, 1724, p. 94, among Bordello's MS. poems in 
the Vatican are mentioned " Canzoni, Tenzoni. Cobbole," 
and various " Serventesi," particularly one in the form of a 
funeral song on the death of Blancas, in which the poet 
reprehends all the reigning princes in Christendom. This 
last was well suited to attract the notice of our author. 
Mention of Sordello will recur in the notes to the Paradise, 
c, ix. v. 32. Since this note was written, many of Sordello's 
poems have been brought to light by the industry of M. Ray 
nouard in his Choix des Poesies des Troubadours and his 
Lexique Roman. 

1 Thou inn of grief J] 

S' io son d'ogni dolore ostello e chiave. 

Vita J\Tuova di Dante, p. 225 

Thou most bean';eous inn, 

Why should hard-favor'd grief be lodged in thee 1 

Shakspeare, Richard II., act v. sc. 1. 

2 Thy living ones.] Compare Milton, P. L., b. ii. 496, &c. 

3 Justinian's hand.] " What avails it that Justinian deliv 
f red thee from the Goths and reformed thy laws, if thou art 
no longer under the control of his successors in the empire V 

* That which God commands.] He alludes to the precept— 
" Render unto Caesar the things which are Csesar's." 



98-1 1G. PURGATORY, Canto VI. 255 

O German Albert I 1 who abandon'st her 

That is grown savage and unmanageable, 

When thcu shouldst clasp her flanks with forked t eels 

Just judgment from the stars fall on thy blood ; 

And be it strange and manifest to all ; 

Such as may strike thy successor with dread ; 

For that thy sire 3 and thou have suffer d thus, 

Through greedinjsss of yonder realms detain'd, 

The garden of the empire to run waste. 

Come, see the Capulets and Montagues, 4 

The Filippeschi and Monaldi, 5 man 

Who carest for naught ! those sunk in grief, and theee 

With dire suspicion rack ? d. Come, cruel one ! 

Come, and behold the oppression of the nobles, 

And mark their injuries ; and thou mayst see 

What safety Santafiore can supply. 6 

Come and behold thy Rome, 7 who calls on thee, 

Desolate widow, day and night with moans, 

" My Caesar, why dost thou desert my side ?" 



1 German Albert!} The Emperor Albert I. succeeded 
Adolplms in 1298, and was murdered in 1308. See Par., 
Canto xix. 114. 

2 Thy successor.] The successor of Albert was Henry of 
Luxemburgh, by whose interposition in the affairs of Italy 
our Poet hoped to have been reinstated in his native city. 

3 Thy sire.] The Emperor Rodolph, too intent on increas- 
ing his power in Germany to give much of his thoughts to 
Italy, 4> the garden of the empire."' 

* Capulets and Montag-ues.] Our ears are so familiarized 
to the names of these rival houses in the language of Shak- 
speare, that I have used them instead of the "Montecchi" 
and "Cappelletti." They were two powerful Ghibelline 
families of Verona. In some parts of that play, of which 
they form the leading characters, our great dramatic poet 
seems to have been not a little indebted to the Hadriana of 
Luigi Groto, commonly called II cieco d'Adria. See Walker's 
Historical Memoir on Italian Tragedy, 4to. 1799, § i. p. 49. 

5 Filippeschi and JMonaldi.] Two other rival families in 
Orvieto. 

6 What safety Santafiore can supply.] A place between 
Pisa and Sienna. What he alludes to is so doubtful, that it 
is not certain whether we should not read " come si cura" — 
"How Santafiore is governed." Perhaps the event related 
in the note to v. 58, canto xi. may be pointed at. 

7 Come and behold thy Rome.] Thus in the Latin Epistle to 
the Cardinals, which has been lately discovered in the Lau- 
rentian library, and has every appearance of being Dante^ ■ 
" Romam urbem, nunc utroque lumine destitutam, nunc Han- 
aibali nedum aliis miserandam, solam sedentem et viduam, 
prout superius proclamatur, qualis est, pro modulo nostra 
Lmaginis, ante mortales oculos afhgatis omnes." Opere minori 
di Dante, torn. hi. ; P" ii. p. 270, 12° Fir. 1840. 



25fi THE VISION. 117-151 

Come, ai*<i behold whal lave among :.;v people: 

And if no pity touches thee for us, 

Come, and blush for thine own report. For me, 

If it be lawful. O Almighty Power ! 

Who wast in earth for our sakes crucified. 

Are thy just eyes turn'd elsewhere ? or is 

A preparation, in the wondrous depth 

Of thy sage counsel made, for some good end. 

Entirely from our reach of thought cut off I 

So are the Italian cities all o'erthrong'd 

With tyrants, and a great Marcellus 1 made 

Of even' petty factious villager. 

-*iy Florence ! thou mayst well remain unmoved 
At this digression, which affects not : 
Thanks to thy people, who so ed. 

Many have justice in their heart, that long 
Waiteth for counsel to direct the bow, 
Or ere it dart unto its aim : but thine 
Have it on their lip's edge. Many refuse 2 
To bear the common burdens : readier thine 
Answer uncalled, and cry, f * Behold I stoop f 

Make thyself glad, for thou hast reason now, 
Thou wealthy ! thou at peace ! thou wisdom-fraught - 
Facts best will witness if I speak the truth. 
Athens and Lacedsemon, who of old 
Enacted laws, for civil arts renown' -i. 
Made little progress in improving life 
Towards thee, who usest such nice subtle: , 
That to the middle of November scarce 
Reaches the thread thou in October wea~ 
How many times within thy mem : i 
Customs, and laws, and coins, and am : s a 
Have been by thee renew'd, and people changed 

If thou remember* st well and canst see clear, 
Thou wilt perceive thyself like a sick wretch, 3 

1 Marcellus.'] Un Marcel diventa 

Ogni villan che parteggiando viene. 
Repeated by Alamanni in his Ccltivazione, lib. i. 

He probably means the Marcellus who opposed Julia* 
CaEsar. 

2 Many refuse] He appears to have been of Plato's mind, 
that in a commonwealth of worthy men, place and power 
would be as mnch declined as they are now sought after and 
coveted, klvotvsou 7r6Xts avdp&v iyaSHv h yivom, vepi- 
fiaxv'bv uv uvai to utj aox uv i wrzeo w* to ap\et¥. IloXir. 
Lib. A. 

3 A sick wretch.} Imitated by the Cardinal de Potigaac m 
ois Anti-Lucretius, lib. i. 1052. 



152, 153. PURG VTORY, Canto VII. 257 

Who finds no rest upon her down, but oft 
Shifting her side, short respite seeks from pain. 



CANTO VII. 

ARGUMENT. 

The approach of night hindering further ascent, Sordello con- 
ducts our Poet apart to an eminence, from whence thcc 
behold a pleasant recess, in form of a flowery valley, scocp- 
ed out of the mountain ; where are many famous spirits, 
and among them the Emperor Rodolph, Ottocar, Xing of 
Bohemia, Philip III. of France, Henry of Navarre, Peter III 
of Aragon, Charles I. of Naples, Henry IH. of England, anc 
William, Marquis of Montferrat. 

After their courteous greetings joyfully 
Seven times exchanged, Sordello backward drew 
Exclaiming, " Who are ye ?" — " Before this mount 
By spirits worthy of ascent to God 
Was sought, my bones had by Octavius' care 
Been buried. I am Virgil ; for no sin 
Deprived of heaven, except for lack of faith." 
So answer'd him in few my gentle guide. 

As one, who aught before him suddenly 
Beholding, whence his wonder riseth, cries, 
" It is, yet is not," wavering in belief; 
Such he appear'd ; then downward bent his eyes, 
And, drawing near with reverential step, 
Caugnt mm, where one of mean estate might clasp 
His lord. 1 " Glory of Latium !" he exclaim'd, 
u In whom our tongue its utmost power display'd : 
Boast of my houor'd birth-place ! what desert 2 
Of mine, what favor, rather, undeserved, 
Shows thee to me? If I to hear that voice 
Am worthy, say if from below thou comest, [orb 
And from what cloister's pale." — " Through even 

Ceu lectum peragrat membris languentibus ffiger, 
In latus alterne laevum dextrumque recumbens : 
Nee juvat : inde oculos tollit resupinus in altum : 
Nusquam inventa quies ; semper quagsita: quod illi 
Primum in deliciis fuerat mox torquet et angit: 
Nee morbum sanat, nee fallit taedia morbi. 

a Where one of mean estate might clasp 

His lord.] So Ariosto, Orl. F., c. xxiv. st. 19. 

E l'abbracciaro, ove il maggior s'abbraccia, 

Col capo nudo e col ginocchio chino. 

r WTM desert.] So Frezzi : 

dual grazia, o qual desfin m' ha fatto degno 
Che io ti veggia. U \£uddrir„ lib. iv cap. ft 



258 THE VISION. 

Of that sad region," he replied, " thas far 

Am I arrived, by heavenly influence led : 

And with such aid I come. Not for my doing,- 1 

But for not doing, have I lost the sight 

Of that high Sim, whom thou desirest, and who 

By me too late was known. There is a place 2 

There underneath, not made by torments sad, 

But by dun shades alone ; where mourning's voice 

Sounds not of anguish sharp, but breathes in sighs 

There I with little innocents abide, 

Who by death's fangs were bitten, ere exempt 

From human taint. There I with those abide, 

Who the three holy virtues 3 put not on, 

But understood the rest, 4 and without blame 

Follow'd them all. But, if thou know'st, and cansti 

Direct us how we soonest may arrive, 

Where Purgatory its true beginning takes." 

He answer' d thus : " We have no certain place 
Assign'd us : upwards I may go, or round. 
Far as I can, I join thee for thy guide. 
But thou beholdest now how day declines ; 
And upwards to proceed by night, our power 
Excels : therefore it may be well to choose 
A place of pleasant sojourn. To the right 
Some spirits sit apart retired. If thou 
Consentest, I to these will lead thy steps: 
And thou wilt know them, not without delight.' 7 

'•' How chances this ?" was answer'd : " whoso wish'd 
To ascend by night, would he be thence debarr'd 
By other, or through his own weakness fail ?" 

The good Sordello then, along the ground 
Trailing his finger, spoke : " Only this line 3 
Thou shalt not overpass, soon as the sun 
Hath disappear'd ; not that aught else impedes 
Thy going upwards, save the shades of night. 
These, with the want of power, perplex the will. 
With them thou haply mightst return beneath, 
Or to and fro around the mountain's side 
Wander, while day is in the horizon shut." 

1 Wot for my doing.) I am indebted to the kindness of Mr 
lyell for pointing out to me that three lines of the original 
,vere here omitted in the former editions of this translation. 

* There is a place.] Limbo. See Hell, Canto iv. 24. 

3 The three holy virtues.] Faith, Hope, and Charity. 

4 The rest.] Prudence, Justice, Fortitude, and Temperance 

5 Only this line.] " Walk while ye have the light, lest dark- 
ness come upon you ; for he that walketh in darkness, know 
eth not whither he goefh." John xii. 35. 



61-82. FURGATORY, Canto VII. 259 

My master straight, as wondering at his speech, 
Exclaim'd : " Then lead us quickly, where thou sayst 
That, while we stay, we may enjoy delight." 

A little space we were removed from thence, 
When I perceived the mountain hollow'd out, 
Even as large valleys 1 hollow'd out on earth. 

" That way," the escorting spirit cried, " we go, 
Where in a bosom the high bank recedes : 
And thou await renewal of the day." 

Betwixt the steep and plain, a crooked path 
Led us traverse into the ridge's side, 
Where more than half the sloping edge expires. 
Refulgent gold, and silver thrice refined, 
And scarlet grain and ceruse, Indian wood 2 
Of lucid dye serene, fresh emeralds 3 
But newly broken, by the herbs and flowers 
Placed in that fair recess, in color all 
Had been surpass'd, as great surpasses less. 
Nor nature only there lavish'd her hues, 
But of the sweetness 4 of a thousand smells 
A rare and undistinguish'd fragrance made. 

'" Salve Regina," 5 on the grass and flowers, 

1 *%s large valleys.} Viatores enim per viam rectam dum 
ambulant, campum juxta viam cernentes spatiosum et pul- 
chrum, oblitique itineris dicunt intra se iter per campum istum 
iaciamus, &c. Alberici Visio, § 28. 

2 Indian wood.] 

Indico legno lucido e sereno. 
It is a little uncertain what is meant by this. Indigo, al- 
though it is extracted from an herb, seems the most likely. 
Monti in his Proposta maintains it to be ebony. 

3 Fresh emeralds.] 

Under foot the violet, 

Crocus, and hyacinth with rich inlay 

Broider'd the ground, morecolor'd than with stone 

Of costliest emblem. Milton, P. L., b. iv. 7Q& 

Zafhr, rubini, oro, topazj, e perle, 

E diamanti, e crisoliti e giacinti 

Potriano i fieri asshnigliar, che per le 

Liete piagge v'avea l'aura dipinti ; 

Si verdi l'erbe, che potendo averie 

Qua giu me foran gli smeraldi vinti. 

jSriosto, Orl. Fur., Canto xxxiv. st. 4tt 
* The sweetness.] 

E quella ai fiori, ai pomi, e alia verzura 

Gli odor diversi depredando giva, 

E di tutti faceva una mistura, 

Che di soavita Talma notriva. Ibid. st. 51 

5 Salve Reg-ma.] The beginning of a prayer to the Virgin 

It is sufficient here to observe, that in similar instances I shall 

either preserve the original Latin words or translate them, aa 

it may seem best to suit the purpose of the verse. 



^60 THE VISION. 93-1H 

Here chanting;. I beheld those spirits sit, 
Vv'ho not beyond the valley could be seen. 

•• Before the westering sun sink to his bed,'' 
Beeran the Mantuan. who out steps had turn'd, 
'•' : Mid those, desire not that I lead ye on. 
For from this eminence ye shall discern 
Better the acts and visages of ah. 
Than, in the nether vale, among" t;i~m mix'd 
He. who sits high above the rest, and seems 
To have neglected that he should have cone. 
And to the others' sonof moves not his lip. 
The Emperor Rodolph 1 call, who might have hea'i'd 
The wounds whereof fair Italy hath ciied. 
So that by others she revives but slowly. 
He. who with kindly visage com::: 
Sway'd in that country.- where the water springs, 
That Moldaw's river to the Elbe, and Elbe 
Rolls to the ocean: Ottocar 3 his name : 
Who in his swaddling clothes was of more worth 
Than Winceslaus his son. a bearded man, 
Pamper'd with rank luxuriousness and ease. 
And that one with the nose depress'd, 4 who close 
In counsel seems with him of gentle look, 5 
Flyinof expired, withering the lily's flower. 
Look there, how he doth knock against his breast. 
The other ye behold, who for his cheek 
flakes oi one hand a couch, with frequent sighs. 
They are the father and the father-in-law 
Of Gallia's bane : 5 his vicious life they know 

i 7^£"::::-m':;V See the last Canto, v. 104. lit 
died in 1001. 
2 Thit country.] Bohemia. 

ofMarchneM. fought wth Rodolph. August 00. 1-278. VYin- 
ceslaus II, his sen. who succeeded him in the kingdom of 
Bohemia, died in 1305. The latter is again taxed with luxu- 
ry in the Paradise, xfx. 103. 

* Thzt -m i-iti t\e nose d>:p-*iss % c.\ Philip III. of France, 
father of Phiiip IV. He died' In 1005. a: Perpignan, in his re- 
treat from Aragon. 

5 Him of gentle look/ Henry of Navarre, father of Jane 
married to Phiiip IV. of France, wham Dante caiis " ir 
Francia"— •• Gaiiia's bane." 

e Gallia's bane.] G. Viiiani. lib. vii. can, 140. -peaks with 
equal resentment' of Philip IV. ■• In 1001. en the night of 
the calends of May. Philip le Bel. King of France-, by 
of Biccio and Musciatto Franzesi. ordered all the Italians 
who were in his country and realm, to be seized, under pre- 

: :e of seizing the money-lenders, but tons he cans 
goad merchant? also to be seized and ransomed f r which 



i 12-12?. PURGATORY, Canto VII. 261 

And foul ; thence comes the grief that rends them 
thus. 
" He so robust of limb, 1 who measure keeps 
In song with him of feature prominent, 2 
With every virtue bore his girdle braced. 
And if that stripling, 3 who behind him sits, 
King after him had lived, his virtue then 
From vessel to like vessel had been pour'd ; 
Which may not of the other heirs be said. 
By James and Frederick 4 his realms are held ; 
Neither the better heritage obtains. 
Rarely 5 into the branches of the tree 



he was much blamed and held in great abhorrence. And 
from thenceforth the realm of France fell evermore into deg- 
radation and decline. And it is observable, that between 
the takii.g of Acre and this seizure in France, the merchants 
of Florence received great damage and ruin of their prop- 
erty^ 

1 He, so robust of limb.] Peter III., called the Great, King 
of Aragon, who died in 1285, leaving four sons, Alonzo, 
James, Frederick, and Peter. The two former succeeded 
him in the kingdom of Aragon, and Frederick in that of 
Sicily. See G. Villani, lib. vii. cap. 102, and Mariana, lib xiv. 
cap. 9. 

He is enumerated among the Provencal poets by Millot 
Hist. Litt. des Troubadours, torn. iii. p. 150. 

2 Him of feature prominent.'] " Dal maschio naso" — " with 
the masculine nose." Charles I. King of Naples, Count of 
Anjou, and brother of St. Louis. He died in 1284. 

The annalist of Florence remarks, that " there had been 
no sovereign of the house of France, since the lime of Char- 
lemagne, by whom Charles was surpassed, either in military 
renown and prowess, or in the loftiness of his understand- 
ing." G. Villani, lib. vii. cap. 94. We shall, however, find 
many of his actions severely reprobated in the twentieth 
Canto. 

3 That stripling.] Either (as the old commentators sup- 
pose) Alonzo III. King of Aragon, the eldest son of Peter III, 
who died in 1291, at the age of twenty-seven ; or, according 
to Venturi, Peter the youngest son. The former was a young 
prince of virtue sufficient to have justified the eulogium and 
the hopes of Dante. See Mariana, lib. xiv. cap. 14. 

* By James and Frederick.] See note to Canto iii. 112. 

5 Rarely.] 

Full well can the wise poet of Florence, 

That hight Dantes, speake in this sentence ; 

Lo ! in such manner rime is Dantes tale. 

Full selde upriseth by his branches smale 

Prowesse of man, for God of his goodnesse 

Woll that we claim of him our gentlenesse : 

For of our elders may we nothing claime 

But temporal thing, that men may hurt and maime. 

Chaucer, Wife of Bathe's Tale. 

Compare Homer, Od., b. ii v. 276, Pindar, Nem., xi. 48, and 
fiuripides, Electra, 369. 



262 THE ,TT STON ] 23- 138 

Doth human worth mount up : and so ordains 

He who bestows it, that as his free gift 

It may be calPd. To Charles 1 my words apply 

No less than to his brother in the song ; 

Which Pouille and Provence now with grief confess 

So much that plant degenerates from its seed, 

As, more than Beatrix and Margaret, 

Costanza 2 still boasts of her valorous spouse. 

" Behold the king of simple life and plain, 
Harry of England, 3 sitting there alone : 
He through his branches better issue 4 spreads. 

" That one, who, on the ground, beneath the re«?fc 
Sits lowest, yet his gaze directs aloft, 
Is William, that brave Marquis, 5 for whose cause, 
The deed of Alexandria and his war 
Makes Montferrat and Canavese weep." 

1 To Charles.] " Al Nasuto"— " Charles II. King of Na- 
ples, is no less inferior to his father Charles L, than James 
and Frederick to theirs, Peter III." See Canto xx. 78, and 
Paradise, Canto xix. 125. 

2 Costanza.] Widow of Peter III. She has been already 
mentioned in the third Canto, v. 112. By Beatrix and Mar- 
garet are probably meant two of the daughters of Raymond 
Berenger, Count of Provence ; the latter married to St. Louis 
of France, the former to his brother, Charles of Anjou, King 
of Naples. See Paradise, Canto vi. 135. Dante therefore con 
siders Peter as the most illustrious of the three monarchs. 

3 Harry of England.] Henry III. The contemporary an 
nalist speaks of this king in similar terms. G. Viliani, lib. v. 
cap. 4. " From Richard was born Henry, who reigned after 
him, who was a plain man and of good faith, but of little 
tourage." With the exception of the last part of the sen- 
tence, which must be changed for its opposite, we might well 
imagine ourselves to be reading the character of our present 
venerable monarch, (A. D. 1819.) Fazio degli Uberti, Ditta- 
mondo, 1. iv. cap. xxv., where he gives the characters of oui 
Norman kings, speaks less respectfully of Henry. Capitoli 
xxiii-xxv. lib" iv., of this neglected poem appear" to deserve 
the notice of our antiquarians. 

4 Better issue.] Edward I., of whose glory our Poet waa 
perhaps a witness, in his visit to England. " From the said 
Henry was born the good King Edward, who reigns in our 
times, who has done great things, whereof we shall make 
mention in due place." G. Viliani, ibid. 

5 William, that brave Marquis.] William, Marquis of Mont- 
ferrat, was treacherously seized by his own subjects, at Ales- 
sandria, in Lombardy, A. D. 1290, and ended his life in prison. 
Bee G. Viliani, lib. vii. cap. 135. A war ensued between tha 
people of Alessandria and those of Montferrat and the Cana 
rese, now a part of Piedmont. 



1-19 PURGATORY, Canto VIII. 263 

CANTO VIII. 

ARGUMENT. 

Two angels, with flaming swords broken at the points, de* 
scend to keep watch over the valley, into which Virgil 
and Dante entering by desire of SordelV>, our Poet meets 
with joy the spirit of Nino, the judge of Gallura, one who 
was well known to him. Meantime three exceedingly 
nright stars appear near the pole, and a serpent creeps 
subtly into the valley, but flees at hearing the approach of 
those angelic guards. Lastly, Conrad Malaspina predicts 
to our Poet his future banishment. 

Now was the hour that wakens fond desire 
In men at sea, and melts their thoughtful heart 
Who in the morn have bid sweet friends farewell, 
And pilgrim newly on his road with love 
Thrills, if he hear the vesper bell from far, 1 
That seems to mourn for the expiring day : 2 
When I, no longer taking heed to hear, 
Began, with wonder, from those spirits to mark 
One risen from its seat, which with its hand 
Audience implored. Both palms it join'd and raised, 
Fixing its steadfast gaze toward the east, 
As telling God, " I care for naught beside." 

" Te Lucis Ante," 3 so devoutly then 
Came from its lip, and in so soft a strain, 
That all my sense 4 in ravishment was lost. 
And the rest after, softly and devout, 
Follow'd through all the hymn, with upward gaze 
Directed to the bright supernal wheels. [keen : 

Here, reader! 3 for the truth make thine <yes 

1 Hear the vesper bell from far. ,] 

I hear the far-off curfeu sound. Jlilton's Penserose 

2 That seems to mourn for the expiring day.] 

The curfew tolls the knell of parting day. 

Graifs Elegy. 

giorno — che si muove 

is from Statius : 

Jam moriente die. Sylv., 1. iv. 6. 3. 

3 Te Lucis Ante.] "Te lucis ante terminum," says Lom- 
bardi, is the first verse of the hymn sung by the church in 
the last part of the sacred office termed compie-ta, a service 
which our Chaucer calls "complin. 1 ' 

4 All my sense.] 

Fece me a me uscir di mente. 

Me snrpuerat mini. Uorat. Carm., lib. iv. od. 13. 

5 Here, reader !] Lombardi's explanation of this passage, 
ly which the commentators have been much perplexed, 
though it may be thought rather too subtile and fine-spun, 
/ike the veil itself spoken of in the text, cannot be denied 
the praise of extraordinary ingenuity. ' This admonition 
ef the poet to his reader, 1 ' he observes, " seems to relate to 



•264 THE VISION. <*M* 

For of so subtle texture is this veil, 

That thou with ease mayst pass it through unmark'd 

I saw that gentle band silently next 
Look up, as if in expectation held, 
Pale and in lowly guise ; and, - from on high, 
I saw, forth issuing descend beneath, 
Two angels, with two flame-illumined swords. 
Broken and mutilated of their points. 
Green as the tender leaves but newly born, 
Their vesture was, the which, by wings as green 
Beaten, they drew behind them, fann'd in air. 
A little over us one took his stand ; 
The other lighted on the opposing hill ; 
So that the troop were in the midst contain'd. 

Well I descried the whiteness on their heads 
But in their visages the dazzled eye 
Was lost, as faculty 1 that by too much 
Is overpower'd. " From Mary's bosom both 
Are come," exclaim'd Sordello, " as a guard 
Over the vale, 'gainst him, who hither tends, 
The serpent." Whence, not knowing by which path 
He came, I turn'd me round ; and closely press\i, 
All frozen, \o my leader's trusted side. 

Sordello paused not : " To the valley now 
(For it is time) let us descend ; and hold 

what has been before said, that these spirits sung the whole 
of the hymn ' Te lucis ante terminum' throughout, even that 
second strophe of it — 

Procul recedant somnia, 

Et noctium phaijtasmata, • 

Hostemque nostrum comprime, 

Ne polluantur corpora ; 
and he must imply, that these souls, being incorporeal, did 
not offer up this petition on their own account, but on ours, 
who are yet in this world ; as he afterwards makes those other 
spirits, who repeat the Pater Noster, expressly declare, when 
after that prayer they add, 

This last petition, dearest Lord ! is made 
Not for ourselves, &c. Canto xi. 

As, therefore, if we look through a very fine veil, the sight 
easily passes on, without perceiving it, to objects that lie on 
the other side; so here the poet fears that our mind's eye 
may insensibly pass on to contemplate these spirits, as if they 
were praying for the relief of their own wants ; without dis- 
covering the veil of our wants, with which they invest them- 
selves in the act of offering up this prayer." 
1 J3s faculty.] 

My earthly by his heavenly overpower'd 

As with an object, that excels the sense, 

Dazzled and spent. Milton, P. L., b. viiL 457. 



45-73 PURGATORY, Canto VIII. 265 

Converse with those great shadows : haply much 
Their sight may please ye." Only three steps down 
Methinks I measured, ere I was heneath, . 
And noted one who look'd as with desire 
To know me. Time was now that air grew dim,* 
Yet not so dim, that, 'twixt his eyes and mine, 
It clear'd not up what was conceaFd before. 
Mutually towards each other we advanced. 
Nino, thou courteous judge I 1 what joy I felt, 
When I perceived thou wert not with the bad. 

Xo salutation kind on either part 
Was left unsaid. He then inquired: " How ] ong, 
Since thou arrivedst at the mountain's foot, 
Over the distant waves V s — " Oh !" answer' d I, 
" Through the sad seats of wo this morn I came ; 
And still in my first life, thus journeying on, 
The other strive to gain." Soon as they heard 
My words, he and Sordello backward drew, 
As suddenly amazed. To Virgil one, 
The other to a spirit turn'd, who near 
Was seated, crying: " Conrad! 2 up with speed: 
Come, see what of his grace high God hath will'd." 
Then turning round to me : " By that rare mark 
Of honor, which thou owest to him, who hides 
So deeply his first cause it hath no ford ; 
When thou shalt be beyond the vast of w r aves, 
Tell my Giovanna, 3 that for me she call 
There, where reply to innocence is made. 
Her mother, 4 I believe, loves me no more ; 

i Xino, thou courteous judge.] Nfno di Gallura de' Visconti. 
nephew to Count L'golino de' Gherardeschi, and betrayed by 
him. S«e Notes to Hell, Canto xxxiii. 

2 Conrad.] Currado, father to Marcello Malaspina. 

3 My Giovanna.] The daughter of Nino, and wife of Ric* 
cardo da Camino of Trevigi, concerning whom see Paradise, 
c. ix. 43. 

* Her mother.] Beatrice, Marchioness of Este, wife of 
Nino, and after his death married to Gi^leazzo de' Visconti 
of Milan. It is remarked by Lombardi, that the time whim 
Dante assigns to this journey, and consequently to this col- 
loquy with Nino Visconti, the beginning, that is, of April, is 
prior to the time which Bernardino Corio, in his history of 
Milan, part the second, fixes for the nuptials of Beatrice 
with Galeazzo ; for he records her having been betrothed to 
that prince after the May of this year, (1300,) and her having 
been solemnly espoused at Modena on the 29th of June. 
Besides, however, the greater credit due to Dante, on ac- 
count of his having lived at the time when these events 
happened, another circumstance in his favor is the discrep- 
ancy remarked by Giovambatista Giraldi (Commentar. deiie 
M>se di Ferrara) in those writers by whom the history of 
23 



266 THE VISION. 74-99 

Since she has changed the white and wimpled folds* 

Which she is doom'd once more with grief to wish 

By her it easily may be perceived, 

How long in woman lasts the flame of love, 

If sight and touch do not relume it oft. 

For her so fair a burial will not make 

The viper, 2 which calls Milan to the field, 

As had been made by shrill Gallura's bird." 3 

He spoke, and in his visage took the stamp 
Of that right zeal, which with due temperature 
Glows in the bosom. My insatiate eyes 
Meanwhile to heaven had travell'd, even there 
Where the bright stars are slowest, as a wheel 
Nearest the axle ; when my guide inquired : 
" What there aloft, my son, has caught thy gaze?" 

I answer'd : " The three torches, 4 with which nere 
The pole is all or* fire." He then to me : 
" The four resplendent stars, thou saw'st this morn, 
Are there beneath ; and these, risen in their stead " 

While yet he spoke, Sordello to himself 
Drew him, and cried: " Lo there our enemy'" 
And with his hand pointed that way to look. 

Along the side, where barrier none arose 
Around the little vale, a serpent lay, 
Such haply as gave Eve the bitter food. 5 
Between the grass and flowers, the evil snake 

Beatrice's life has been recorded. Nothing can set the 
general accuracy of our Poet, as to historical facts, in a 
stronger point of view, than the difficulty there is in con- 
victing him of even so slight a deviation from it as is hero 
suspected. 

1 The white and wimpled folds. j The weeds of widow 
hood. 

2 The vipci-.] The arms of Galeazzo and the ensign of the 
Milanese. 

3 Shrill Gallura's hird.] The cock was the ensign of Gal- 
ium, Nino's province in Sardinia. Hell, xxii. 80, and notes. 
It is not known whether Beatrice had any further cause to 
regret her nuptials with Galeazzo, than a certain shame 
which appears, however unreasonably, to have attached to a 
second marriage. 

4 The three torches.] The three evangelical virtues, Faith, 
Hope, and Charity. These are supposed to rise in the even- 
ing, in order to denote their belonging to the contemplative ; 
as the four others, which are made to rise in the morning, 
were probably intended to signify that the cardinal virtues 
belong to the active life : or perhaps it may mark the succes- 
sion, in order of time, of the Gospel to the heathen system of 
morality. 

5 Such haply as gave Eve the hitter food.] Compare Milton's 
description of that serpent in the ninth book of the Paradise 
Lost. 



•00-134. PURGATORY, Canto Vlli 30^ 

Came on, reverting oft his lifted head ; 
And, as a beast that smooths its polish'd coat, 
Licking his back-. I saw not, nor can tell, 
How those celestial falcons from their seat 
Moved, but in motion each one well descried. 
Hearing the air cut by their verdant plumes, 
The serpent fled ; and, to their stations, back 
The angels up return'd with equal flight. 

The spirit, (who to Nino, when he call'd, 
Had come,) from viewing me with fixed ken, 
Through all that conflict, loosen'd not his sight. 

" So may the lamp, 1 which leads thee up on high 
Find, in thy free resolve, of wax so much, 
As may suffice thee to the enamell'd height," 
It thus began : " If any certain news 
Of Valdimagra 2 and the neighbor part 
Thou know'st, tell me, who once was mighty there. 
They call'd me Conrad Malaspina ; not 
That old one ; 3 but from him I sprang. The love 
I bore my people is now here refined.'' 

" In your domains," I answer'd, " ne'er was I. 
But, through all Europe, where do those men dwell, 
To whom their glory is not manifest ? 
The fame, that honors your illustrious house, 
Proclaims the nobles, and proclaims the land ; 
So that he knows it, who was never there. 
I swear to you, so may my upward route 
Prosper, your honor'd nation not impairs 
The value of her coffer and her sword. 
Nature and use give her such privilege, 
That while the world is twisted from his course 
By a bad head, she only walks aright, 
And has the evil way in scorn." He then : 
u Xow pass thee on : seven times the tired sun 4 
Revisits not the couch, which with four feet 



1 May the lamp.] " May the divine grace find so hearty & 
co-operation on the part of thy own will, as shall enable thee 
to ascend to the terrestrial paradise, which is on the top of 
this mountain." 

2 Valdimagra.] See Hell, Canto xxiv. 144, and notes. 

3 That old one.] An ancestor of Conrad Malaspina, who 
was also of that name. 

4 Seven times the tired sun.] " The sun shall not enter into 
ihe constellation of Aries seven times more, before thou shalt 
have still better cause for the good opinion thou expressest 
of Valdimagra, in the kind reception thou shalt there meet 
Hrith." Dante was hospitably received by the Marchesc 
Marcello, or Morello Malaspina, during his banishraent, A.D 
'j07 



2bb THE VISION. 135-138 

The forked Aries covers, ere that kind 

Opinion shall be nail'd into thy brain 

With stronger nails than other's speech ca-i drive 5 

If the sure course of judgment be not stay'd " 



CANTO IX. 

ARGUMENT. 

Dante is carried up the mountain, asleep and dreaming, by 
Lucia ; and, on wakening, finds himself, two hours aftei 
sunrise, with Virgil, near the gate of Purgatory, through 
which they are admitted by the angel deputed by Saint 
Peter to keep it. 

Now the fair consort of Tithonus old, 1 
Arisen from her mate's beloved arms, 
Look'd palely o'er the eastern cliff; her brow, 
Lucent with jewels, glitter'd, set in sign 
Of that chill animal, 2 who with his train 
Smites fearful nations : and where then we were, 
Two steps of her ascent the night had pass'd ; 
And now the third was closing up its wing, 3 

1 Now the fair consort of Tithonus old.] 

La concubina di Titone antico. 
So Tassoni, Secchia Rapita, c. viii. st. 15. 

La puttanella del canuto amante. 
Venturi, after some of the old commentators, interprets this 
to mean an Aurora, or dawn of the moon ; but this seems 
highly improbable. From what follows it may be conjec- 
tured, that our Poet intends us to understand that it was now 
near the break of day. 

2 Of that chill animal.] The scorpion. 

3 The third was closing up its wing.] The night bdn£ 
divided into four watches, I think he may mean that the 
third was past, and the fourth and last was begun, so that 
there might be some faint glimmering of morning twilight; 
and not merely, as Lombardi supposes, that the third watch 
was drawing towards its close, which would still leave an 
insurmountable difficulty in the first verse. At the begin- 
ning of Canto xv. our Poet makes the evening commence 
three hours before sunset, and he may now consider the 
dawn as beginning at the same distance from sunrise. Those 
who would have the dawn, spoken of in the first verse of the 
present Canto, to signify the rising of the moon, construe 
the " two steps of her ascent which the night had pass'd," into 
as many hours, and not watches ; so as to make it now about 
the third hour of the night. The old Latin annotator on the 
Monte Cassino MS. alone, as far as I know, supposing the 
iivision made by St. Isidore (Orig., lib. 5) of the night into 
^even parts to be adopted by our Poet, concludes that it was> 



9-24. PURGATORY, Canto IX. »m 

When I, who had so much of Adam with me, 

Sank down upon the grass, o'ercome with sleep, 

There where all five 1 were seated. In that hour, 

When near the dawn the swallow her sad lay, 

Remembering haply ancient grief, 2 renews ; 

And when our minds, more wanderers from the flesli. 

And less by thought restrain'd, are, as 't were, Ml 

Of holy divination in their dreams ; 

Then, in a vision, did I seem to view 

A golden-feather'd eagle 3 in the sky, 

With open wings, and hovering for descent ; 

And I was in that place, methought, from whence 

Young Ganymede, from his associates ? reft, 

Was snatclrd aloft to the high consistory. 

" Perhaps," thought I within me, " here alone 

He strikes his quarry, and elsewhere disdains 

the third of these ; and he too, therefore, is for the lunar 
dawn. Rosa Morando ingenuously confesses, that to him 
the whole passage is u non esplicabile o almeno ditricillimo," 
inexplicable, or, at best, extremely difficult. 

1 .ill five.] Virgil, Dante, Sordello, Xino, and Currado Ma- 
iaspina. 

2 Remembering haply ancient grief.] Progne having been 
changed into a swallow after the outrage done her by Tereus. 
See Ovid, Metam., lib. vi. 

3 A golden- feather' d eagle.] So Chaucer, in the House of 
Fame, at the conclusion of the first book and beginning of 
the second, represents himself carried up by the "grim 
pawes" of a golden eagle. Much of his description is closely 
imitated from Dante : — 

Methought I saw an eagle sore. 

It was of golde and shone so bright, 
That never sawe men soche a sight. 

The House of Fame, b. L 
This eagle, of which I have you tolde, 
That with fethirs shone al of golde, 
Whiche that so hie gan to sore, 
I gan beholdin more and more 
To seen her beautee and the wonder, 
But never was that dente of thonder, 
Ne that thinge that men callin foudre, 
That smite sometime a toure to poudre, 
And in his swifte comminge brend, 
That so swithe gan downwarde discende 
As this foule whan that it behelde, 
That I a roume was in the felde, 
And with his grim pawes stronge, 
Within his sharpe nailis longe, 
Me fleyng at a swappe he hent, &c. Ibid. b. ii 
*Avis Candida columbee similis adveniens pel 

comam capitis suo me ore apprehendens ierre sublimen cepit.* 

dlberici Visio $ 1. 



<j70 THE VISION. 8MB 

To pounce upon the prey." Therewith, it seem'd, 

A little wheeling in his aery tour, 

Terrible as the lightning, rush'd he down, 

And snatch'd me upward even to the fire. 

There both, I thought, the eagle and myself, 

Did burn ; and so intense the imagined flames, 

That needs my sleep was broken off. As erst 

Achilles shook himself, and round him roll'd 

His waken'd eyeballs, wondering where he was, 

Whenas his mother had from Chiron fled 

To Scyros, with him sleeping in her arms ; 

(There 1 whence the Greeks did after sunder him ;) 

E'en thus I shook me, soon as from my face 

The slumber parted, turning deadly pale, 

Like one ice-struck with dread. Sole at my side 

My comfort stood : and the bright sun was now 

More than two hours aloft : and to the sea 

My looks were turn'd. " Fear not," my master cried, 

" Assured we are at happy point. Thy strength 

Shrink not, but rise dilated. Thou art come 

To Purgatory now. Lo ! there the cliff 

That circling bounds it. Lo ! the entrance there, 

Where it doth seem disparted. Ere the dawn 

Usher'd the daylight, when thy wearied soul 

Slept in thee, o'er the flowery vale beneath 

A lady came, and thus bespake me : ' I 

Am Lucia.' 2 Suffer me to take this man, 

Who slumbers. Easier so his way shall speed.' 

Sordello and the other gentle shapes 

Tarrying, she bare thee up : and, as day shone, . 

This summit reach'd : and I pursued her steps. 

Here did she place thee. First, her lovely eyes 

That open entrance show'd me ; then at once 

Sie vanish 5 d with thy sleep." Like one, whose doubts 

Are chased by certainty, and terror turn'd 

To comfort on discovery of the truth, 

Such was the change in me : and as my guido 

Beheld me fearless, up along the cliff 

He moved, and I behind him, towards the height. 

Reader ! thou markest how my theme doth rise : 
Nor wonder therefore, if more artfully 
I prop the structure. Nearer now we drew, 
Arrived whence, in that part, where first a breach 
As of a wall appear'd, I could descry 

1 There.'] Mr. Darley has noted the omission of this line ia 
fhe preceding editions. 

2 Liici&.\ See Hell : c ii. 97, and Paradise, c. xxxii. 123. 



69-106 PURGATORY, Canto IX. 271 

A portal, and three steps beneath, that led 

For inlet there, of different color each ; 

And one who watch'd, but spake not yet a word. 

As more and more mine eye did stretch its view, 

I mark'd him seated on the highest step, 

In visage such, as past my power to bear. 

Grasp'd in his hand, a naked sword glanced back 

The rays so towards me, that I oft in vain 

My sight directed. " Speak, from whence ye stand f 

He cried : " What would ye ? Where is your escort 1 

Take heed your coming upward harm ye not." 

" A heavenly dame, not skilless of these things," 
Replied the instructor, " told us, even now, 
* Pass that way : here the gate is.' " — " And may she, 
Befriending, prosper your ascent," resumed 
The courteous keeper of the gate : " Come then 
Before our steps." We straightway thither came. 

The lowest stair 1 was marble white, so smooth 
And polish'd, that therein my mirror'd form 
Distinct I saw. The next of hue more dark 
Than sablest grain, a rough and singed block, 
Crack' d lengthwise and across. The third, that lay 
Massy above, seem'd porphyry, that flamed 
Red as the life-blood spouting from a vein. 
On this God's angel either foot sustain'd, 
Upon the threshold seated, which appear'd 
A rock of diamond. Up the trinal steps 
My leader cheerly drew me. " Ask," said he, 
" With humble heart, that he unbar the bolt." 

Piously at his holy feet devolved 
I cast me, praying him for pity's sake 
That he would open to me ; but first fell 
Thrice on my bosom prostrate. Seven times 2 
The letter, that denotes the inward stain, 
He, on my forehead, with the blunted point 
Of his drawn sword, inscribed. And " Look," he cried, 
" When enter'd, that thou wash these scars away." 

Ashes, or earth ta'en dry out of the ground, 

1 The lowest stair.] By the white step is meant the dis- 
tinctness with which the consciences of the penitent reflects 
his offences ; by the burnt and cracked one, his contrition 
on their account ; and by that of porphyry, the fervor with 
which he resolves on the future pursuit of piety and virtue. 
Hence, no doubt, Milton describing " the gate of heaven/ 
P. L., b. iii. 516. 

Each stair mysteriously was meant. 

* Seven times.] Seven P's, to denote the seven si as (Pec- 
eata) of which he was to be cleansed in his passage through 
Purgatory. 



Sffii ™ E VISION. 107-131 

Were of one color with the robe he wore. 
From underneath that vestment forth he drew 
Two keys, 1 of metal twain : the one was gold. 
Its fellow silver. With the pallid first, 
And next the bumish'd, he so ply'd the gate. 
As to content me well. " Whenever one 
Faiieth of these, that in the key-hole straight 
It turn not, to this alley then expect 
Access in vain." Such were the words he spako 
" One is more precious : 2 but the other needs 
Skill and sagacity, large share of each, 
Ere its good task to disengage the kr.ot 
Be worthily perform'd. From Peter the** 
I hold, of him instructed that I err 
Rather in opening, than in keeping fast ; 
So but the suppliant at my feet implore " 

Then of that hallow'd gate he thrust the door. 
Exclaiming, " Enter, but this warning hear : 
He forth again departs who looks behind " 

As in the hinges of that sacred ward 
The swivels turn'd, sonorous metal strong, 
Harsh was the grating ; 3 nor so surlily 
Roar'd the Tarpeian, 4 when by force bereft 
Of good Metellus, thenceforth from his loss 

1 Two keys.] Lombardi remarks, that painters ha>€ 
usually drawn Saint Peter with two keys, the one of goid 
and the other of silver ; but that Mccolo Alemanni, in his 
Dissertation de Parietinis Lateranensibus, produces instances 
of his being represented with one key, and with three. We 
have here, however, not Saint Peter, but an angel debated 
by him. 

2 One is more precious.] The golden key denotes tiie divine 
authority by which the priest absolves the sinners : the sli- 
ver expresses the learning and judgment requisite for trw due 
discharge of that office. 

3 Harsh was the grating.] 

On a sudden open fly 

With impetuous recoil and jarring sound 

Th' infernal doors, and on their hinriss grate 

Harsh thunder. Milton, P I ,x>.\\ fc82. 

4 The Tarpeian.] 

Protinus abducto patuerunt templa Metello. 

Tunc rupes Tarpeia sonat: magnoque reclusas 

Testatur stridore fores : tunc conditus imo 

Eruitur templo multis intactus ab annis 

Romani census populi, &c. Lucan, Ph., lib. iii. 157. 

The tribune with unwilling steps withdrew, 

While impious hands the rude assault renew; 

The brazen gates with thundering strokes resorjnl 

And the Tarpeian mountain rings around 

At length the sacred storehouse, open laid, 

The hoarded wealth of ages past displayed. Rowe* 



131-138. PURGATORY, Canto X. 273 

To leanness doom'd. Attentively I turn'd. 

Listening the thunder that first issued forth ; 

And " We praise thee, O God," methought I heard, 

In accents blended with sweet melody. 

The strains came o'er mine ear, e'en as the sound 

Of choral voices, that in solemn chant 

With organ 1 mingle, and, now high and clear 

Come swelling, now float indistinct away. 



CANTO X. 



ARGUMENT. 

Being admitted at the gate of Purgatory, out Poe ,s ascend 8 
winding path up the rock, till they reach an open and level 
space that extends each way round the mountain. On the 
side that rises, and which is of white marble, are seen art- 
fully engraven many stories of humility, which while they 
are contemplating, there approach the souls of those who 
expiate the sin of pride, and who are bent down beneath 
the weight of heavy stones. 

When we had pass'd the threshold of the gate, 
(Wliich the soul's ill affection doth disuse, 
Making the crooked seem the straighter path) 
I heard its closing sound. Had mine eyes turn'd, 
For that offence what plea might have avail'd? 

We mounted up the riven rock, that wound 2 
On either side alternate, as the wave 

1 Organ. I Organs were used in Italy as early as in the sixth 
century. See Tiraboschi, Stor. della Lett. Ital., 4to. vol. iii. 
lib. iii. cap. i. § 11, where the following description of that 
instrument is quoted from Cassiodorus, in Psalm. 150 : — " Or- 
ganum itaque est quasi turris diversis fistulis fabricata, quibus 
rlatu follium vox copiosissima destinatur, et ut eammodulatio 
decora componat, Unguis quibusdam ligneis ab interiore parte 
construitur, quas disciplinabiliter Magistrorum digiti repri- 
mentes grandisonam efficiunt et suavisonam cantilenam." If 
I remember right there is a passage in the Emperor Julian's 
writings, which shows that the organ was not unknown in 
his time. 

2 That wound.'] Venturi justly observes, that the Padro 
d' Aquino has misrepresented the sense of this passage in nil 
translation. 

dabat ascensum tendentious ultra 

Scissa tremensque silex, tenuique erratica motu. 
The verb "muover" is used in the same signification in th€ 
Lnferno, Canto xviii. 21. 

Cosi da imo della roccia scogli 
Moven. 

from the rock's low base 

Thus flinty paths advanced 
"a neither place is actual motion intended to be expressed. 



274 THE VISION. &«« 

Flies and advances. " Here some little an 
Behooves us," said my leader, " that our steps 
Observe the varying flexure of the path." 

Thus we so slowly sped, that with cleft orb 
The moon once more o'erhangs her watery couch, 
Ere we that strait have threaded. But when free, 
We came, and open, where the mount above 
One solid mass retires ; I spent with toil, 1 
And both uncertain of the way, we stood, 
Upon a plain more lonesome than the roads 
That traverse desert wilds. From whence the brink 
Borders upon vacuity, to foot 
Of the steep bank that rises still, the space 
Had measured thrice the stature of a man : 
And, distant as mine eye could wing its flight, 
To leftward now and now to right dispatch'd, 
That cornice equal in extent appear'd. 

Not yet our feet had on that summit moved, 
When I discover'd that the bank, around, 
Whose proud uprising all ascent denied, 
Was marble white ; and so exactly wrought 
With quaintest sculpture, that not there alone 
Had Polycletus, but e'en nature's self 
Been shamed. The angel, (who came down to earth 
With tidings of the peace so many years 
Wept for in vain, that oped the heavenly gates 
From their long interdict) before us seem'd, 
In a sweet act, so sculptured to the life, 
He look'd no silent image. One had sworn 
He had said " Hail !" 2 for she was imaged there, . 
By whom the key did open to God's love ; 
And in her act as sensibly impress'd 
That word, " Behold the handmaid of the Lord," 
As figure seal'd on wax. " Fix not thy mind 
On one place only," said the guide beloved, 
Who had me near him on that part where lies 
The heart of man. My sight forthwith I turn'd, 
And mark'd, behind the virgin mother's form, 

1 / spent with toil.] Dante only was wearied, because h.6 
only had the weight of a bodily frame to encumber him. 

8 Hail] On whom the angel Hail 

Bestow'd, the holy salutation used 
Long after to blest Mary, second Eve. 

Milton, P. L., v. 387. 
" The basso relievo on the border of the second rock in 
Purgatory, furnished the idea of the Annunziata, painted by 
Marcello Venusti from his (Michael Angelo's) design in the 
sacristy of St. Giov. Lateran." Fuseli, Lecture iii., note 



46-69, PURGATORY, Canto X. ^75 

Upon that side where he that moved me stood, 
Another story graven on the rock. 

I pass'd athwart the bard, and drew me near, 
That it might stand more aptly for my view. 
There, in the self-same marble, were engraved 
The cart and kine, drawing the sacred ark, 
That from unbidden office awes mankind. 1 
Before it came much people ; and the whole 
Parted in seven quires. One sense cried " Nay, w 
Another, " Yes, they sing." Like doubt arose 
Betwixt the eye and smell, from the curFd fame 
Of incense breathing up the well-wrought toil. 
Preceding 2 the blest vessel, onward came 
With light dance leaping, girt in huiable guise, 
Israelis sweet harper : in that hap he seem'd 
Less, and yet more, than kingly. Opposite, 
At a great palace, from the lattice forth 
Look'd Michol, like a lady full of scorn 
And sorrow. To behold the tablet next, 
Which, at the back of Michol, whitely shone, 
I moved me. There, was storied on the rock 
The exalted glory of the Roman prince, 
Whose mighty worth moved Gregory 3 to earn 
His mighty conquest, Trajan the Emperor. 4 



1 That from unbidden office aiccs mankind.} " And when the} 
came toXachon's threshing-floor, Uzzah put forth his hand tc 
the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook it." 

"And the an<rer of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah ; 
and God smote him there for his error ; and there he died by 
the ark of God." 2 Sain. c. vi. 7. 

2 Preceding.] " And David danced before the Lord with 
all his might ; and David was girded with a linen ephod." 
2 Sam. vi. 14. 

3 Gregory.} St. Gregory's prayers are said to have deliver- 
ed Trajan from hell. See" Paradise, Canto xx. 40. 

4 Trajan the Emperor.] For this story, Landino refers to 
two writers, whom he calls " Helinando," of France, by whom 
he means Elinand, a monk and chronicler, in the reign of 
Philip Augustus, and " Polycrato," of England, by whom is 
meant John of Salisbury, author of the Polycraticus de Cu- 
rialium Xugis, in the twelfth century. The passage in the 
text I find nearly a translation from that work, lib. v. c. 8. 
The original appears to be in Dio Cassius, where it is told of 
the Emperor Hadrian, lib. lxix. a/if).a yvvaiKds, k. t. A. 
" when a woman appeared to him with a suit, as he was on 
a journey, at first he answered her, ' I have no leisure ;' but 
she crying out to him, ' then reign no longer,' he turned about, 
and heard her cause." Lombardi refers also to Johannes Di- 
aconus. Vita S. Gregor., lib. ii. cap. 44; the Euchology of 
the Greeks, cap. 96; and St. Thomas Aquinas Supplem 
Quaes t. 73, art. 5 ad 5. Compare Fazio degii Ubcrti, Ditta 
tnondo, lib. ii. cap G. 



270 THE VISION. 70-1* 

A widow at his bridle stood, attired 

In tears and mourning. Round about ihem t:: 

Full throng of knights : and overhead in gold 

The eagles floated, 1 struggling with the w 

The wretch appear'd amid all these to say : 

'•' Grant vengeance. Sire ! for. wo beshrew this Lea:* 

My son is rnurder'd." He replying seem'd : 

'■' Wait now till I return." And she. as one 

Made hasty by her grief: •'•' Sire ! if thou 

Dost not return ?" — •• Where I am. who then is, 

May right thee." — •■'What to thee i? other's good, 

If thou neglect thy own V — •'•' _N"ow comfort thee ;*' 

At length he answers. •• It beseemeth well 

My duty be performed, ere I move hence : 

So justice wills : and pity bids me stay." 

He. whose ken nothing new surveys, produced 
Tnat visible speaking, new to us and strange. 
The like not found on earth. Fondly I gazed 
Upon those patterns of meek humbleness. 
Shapes yet more precious for their artist's sake ; 
When •'•' Lo !" the poet whisper'd. " where this way, 
(But slack their pace) a multitude advance. 
These to the lofty steps shall guide us on." 

Mine eyes. :h:o\_o: bent on view of novel sights, 
Their loved allurement, were not slow to turn. 

Reader ! I would not that am: 
Of thy good purpose, hearing how just God 
Decrees our debts be canceli'd. Ponder not 
The form of suffering. Think on what succeeds 
Think that, at worst, beyond the mighty doom 
It cannot pass. " Instructor .'" I began, 
" What I see hither tending, ': r?:s no trace 
Of human semblance. ght beside 

That my foii'd sight can guess." He answering 
" So courb'd to earth, beneath -y terms 

Of torment t sop they, that mine eye at lirst 
Struggled as thine. But look intently thither: 
And disentangle with thy laboring view. 
What, underneath those stones, approacheth: now, 
E'en now. rnayst thou discern the pangs of ea : 



1 T\i eagles floated.] See Perticari's Letter on this passage 
Opere. vol. iii. p. 55-2. Ed. Bol. 1831 The eagles were of 
metal ; not worked on a standard, as Yillani supposed. 

2 Ponder.] This is, in tmth, an unanswerable objection tc 
the doctrine of Purgatory. It is difficult to conceive how the 
besl can meet death witnont horror, if they beliere itmnst be 
followed by immediate and intense surTei . 



UO-124 PURGATORY, Canto X. 277 

Christians and proud ! O poor and wretched ones ' 
That, feeble in the mind's eye, lean your trust 
Upon unstaid perverseness : know ye not 
That we are worms, yet made at last to form 
The winged insect, 1 imp'd with angel plumes, 
That to heaven's justice unobstructed soars? 
Why buoy ye up aloft your unfledged souls ? 
Abortive 2 then and shapeless ye remain, 
Like the untimely embryon of a worm. 

As. to support 3 incumbent floor or roof, 
For corbel, is a figure sometimes seen, 
That crumples up its knees unto its breast ; 
With the feigird posture, stirring ruth uufeign'd 
In the beholder's fancy ; so I saw 
These fashion'd, when I noted well their guise. 



1 The winged insect.] L'angelica farfalla. 

The butterfly was an ancient and well-known symbol of 
the human soul. Venturi cites some lines from the Canzoni 
Anacreontiche of Magalotti, in which this passage is imi- 
tated. 

' 2 Abortive.] The word in the original is entomata. Some 
critics, and Salvini among the rest, have supposed that 
Dante, finding in a vocabulary the Greek word ivrofia with 
the article rd placed after it to denote its gender, mistook 
them for one word. From this error he is well exculpated 
by Rosa Morando in a passage quoted by Lombardi from 
the Osserv. Parad. III., where it is shown that the Italian 
word is formed, for the sake of the verse, in analogy with 
some others used by our Poet; and that Redi himself, an 
excellent Greek scholar and a very accurate writer, has 
even in prose, where such licenses are less allowable, thus 
lengthened it. It may be considered as some proof of our 
author's acquaintance with the Greek language, that in the 
Convito, p. 26, he finds fault with the version of Aristotle's 
Ethics made by Taddeo d'Alderotto, the Florentine physi- 
cian; and that in the treatise de Monarchia, lib. i. p. 110. he 
quotes a Greek word from Aristotle himself. On the other 
hand, he speaks of a passage in the same writer being doubt- 
ful, on account of its being differently interpreted in two 
different translations, a new and an old one. Convito, p. 75. 
And for the word " autentin," he refers to a vocabulary com- 
piled by Uguccione Bentivegna of Pisa, a MS. that is, per- 
haps, still remaining, as Cinelli. in his MS. history of Tuscan 
writers referred to by Biscioni in the notes on the Convito 
p. 142, speaks of it as being preserved in the library of S. 
Francesco at Cesena. After all, Dante's knowledge of Greek 
must remain as questionable as Shakspeare's of that lan- 
guage and of Latin. 

3 As, to support.] Chiilingworth, cap. vi. § 54, speaks of 
H those crouching anticks, which seem in great buildings to 
labor under the weight they bear." And Lord Shaftesbury 
has a similar illustration in his Essay on Wit and Humor. 
M, $3 

24 



THE VISION. 19 

0: r:i'.:^ :: .ess :;-.:::.::i: : ane it seem":: 
As he. who shz.vr'd rn:<st panenee in his io:k, 
Wrvihnr e.utlainu'd : •■ I can ^:rr no :a :•:- " 



CANTO XL 

ARGUMENT 
After a prayer nttered by the spirits, who were spoken of in 
the last Canto, Virgil inquires the way upwards, and it 

:-.:-.•. vreir-i : y tne. wi: CrUhh- i:::: ; t.: :: ::V T u~:-. I m- 
berto, son^of the Count of Santafiore. Next our Poet dis- 
tinguishes Oderigi, the illuminator, who discourses on the 
vanity of worldly fkme, and points out to him the soul of 
Provenzano SalvanL 

•• O thou Almighty Father I 1 who dost make 
The heavens thy veiling, not in bounds confined, 
Bat that, with love intenser, there thou view*st 
Thy primal effluence ; hallowed be thy name: 
Join, each created being, to extol 
Thy might ; for worthy humblest thanks and praisn 
Is :hy b.est Spirit. May rhy uiuuiuu s pe::e- 
Conae unto us : :or vre. urn ess :t come. 
"V^ itn ali our striving, thinner tena in 

Wit-: "-. ---■--,-.--- .,.,,---■-"..,'■-, -. , 
By saintly men m earta. Grant us. tins fay.. 
Our daily manna, without which he roams 
Through this rough desert retrograde, who mos! 

To. is ro :-. fvnu:e his steas. As we ::, ea:h 
Pardon the uu iune us* .:.:ul:u a 
B eni^n, and of our merit take no count 
Gains: the nu mverserv. prtve thou no: 
Our virtue, easiiy subdued": bu: free 
From his mo.teme:it.s. ana defeat his wile*. 
This last petition, dearest Lord ! is made 
N : t for ourselves ; since that were needless now ; 

Thus for themselves and us :::: a : inn ::iur 



.er.~j The first four lines are bor 

U: -j ■-.. . vr.^.f.r^ :hr Ihriu ?h'-;:-r 
[Xante's, which some have doubted 
:c/s Chorion it is ascribed to An 



27-G5 PURGATORY, Canto XI. 279 

We sometimes feel in dreams ; all, sore beset. 
Bat with unequal anguish ; wearied all ; 
Round the first circuit ; purging as they go 
The world's gross darkness off. In our behoof 
If there vows still be offer'd, what can here 
For them be vow'd and done by such, whose wills 
Have root of goodness in them I 1 Well beseems 
That we should help them wash away the stains 
They carried hence ; that so, made pure and light, 
They may spring upward to the starry spheres. 

" Ah ! so may mercy-temper'd justice rid 
Your burdens speedily ; that ye have power 
To stretch your wing, which e'en to your desire 
Shall lift you ; as ye show us on which hand 
Toward the ladder leads the shortest way. 
And if there be more passages than one, 
Instruct us of that easiest to ascend: 
For this man, who comes with me, and bears yet 
The charge of fleshly raiment Adam left him, 
Despite his better will, but slowly mounts." 
From whom the answer came unto these words, 
Which my guide spake, appear'd not ; but 'twas said 
" Along the bank to rightward come with us ; 
And ye shall find a pass that mocks not toil 
Of living man to climb : and were it not 
That I am hinder'd by the rock, wherewith 
This arrogant neck is tamed, whence needs I stoop 
My visage to the ground ; him, who yet lives, 
Whose name thou speak'st not, him I fain would view j 
To mark if e'er I knew him, and to crave 
His pity for the fardel that I bear. 
I was of Latium f of a Tuscan born, 
A mighty one: Aldobrandesco's name, 
My sire's, I know not if ye e'er have heard 
My old blood and forefathers' gallant deeds 
Made me so haughty, that I clean forgot 
The common mother ; and to such excess 
Wax'd in my scorn of all men, that I fell, 
Fell therefore ; by what fate, Sienna's sons, 



• Such, zchose icills 



Have root of goodness in them.] The Poet has before 
told us, that there are no others on earth whose prayers avail 
lo shorten the pains of those who are in Purgatory. 

2 I was of Latium.] Omberto. the son of Guglielmo Aldo- 
brandesco, Count of Santafiore, in the territory of Sienna. 
His arrogance provoked his countrymen to such a pitch of 
fun' against him, that he was murdered by them at Cam- 
Daguatico. 



^60 THE VISION. 5G-93 

Each child in Campagnatico, can tell. 
I am Omberto : not me. only, pride 
Hath injured, but my kindred all involved 
In mischief with her. Here my lot ordains 
Under this weight to groan, till I appease 
God*s angry justice, since I did it not 
Among the living, here among the dead.' 5 

Listening I bent my visage down: and one 
(Xot he who spake) twisted beneath the weight 
That urged him. saw me. knew me straight, and 
Holding his eyes with difficulty iix'd "cali'd ; 

Intent upon me, stooping as I went 
Companion of their way. •'•' O !" I exclaim'd, 
i; Art thou not Oderigi - 1 art not thou 
Agobbio's glory, glory of that art 
Which they of Paris call the limner's skill ■" 

•'•' Brother !*' said he, u with tints, that gayer smile- 
Bologniau Franco's' 2 pencil lines the leaves. 
His ail the honor now ; my light obscured. 
In truth. I had not been thus courteous to him 
The while I lived, through eagerness of zeal 
For that pre-eminence my heart was bent on. 
Here, of such pride, the forfeiture is paid. 5 
Nor were I even here, if, able still 
To sin, I had not turn'd me unto God. 
O powers of man ! how vain your glory, nipp'd 
E'en in its height of verdure, if an age 
Less bright succeed not, 4 Cimabue 5 thought 

1 Oderigi.] The illuminator, or miniature painter, a friend 

of Giotto and Dante. 

2 Bolog-iv-an Franco.] Franco of Bologna, who is said tr. 
have been a pupil of Oderigi's. 

s T . i is paid.] 

Di tal stiperbia qui si paga il no. 
So in the Inferno, c. xxvii. 135. 

in che si paga il no. 

And Ariosto, Ori. For., c. xxii. 59. 

Prestate ola. che qui si paga il ho. 

4 If an age 

Less bright succeed not.) If a generation of men do not 
follow, among whom none exceeds or equals those who have 
immediately preceded them. " Etati posse ;*' to which Volpi 
remarks a similar expression in Boiieau. 

Villon sul le premier, dans ces siecles grossiers, 
J/ebrouiller i'art confus de nos vieux romanciers. 

Art Poetique. ch. i. 
B Cimabue.] Giovanna Cimabue. the restorer of painting, 
was born at Florence, of a noble family, m 1-240, and died in 
1300. The passage in the text is an allusion to his epitaph. 
Oredidit ut Oimabos picturae castra tenere. 
Sic tenuit vivens : nunc tenet astra poh. 



94-96. PURGATORY, Canto XI. 281 

To lord it over painting's field ; and now 
The cry is Giotto's, 1 and his name eclipsed. 
Thus hath one Guido from the other snatch d 



» The cry is Giotto's.] In Giotto we have a proof at how 
early a period the fine arts were encouraged in Italy. His 
talents were discovered by Cimabue, while he was tending 
sheep for his father in the neighborhood of Florence, and 
he was afterwards patronised by Pope Benedict XI. and 
Robert King of Naples ; and enjoyed the society and friend- 
ship of Dante, whose likeness he has transmitted to posterity 
He died in 1336, at the age of 60. 

2 One Guido from the other.] Guido Cavalcanti, the friend 
cf our Foet. (see Hell, Canto x. 59,) had eclipsed the literary 
fame of Guido Guinicelli, of a noble family in Bologna, whom 
we shall meet with in the twenty-sixth Canto, and of whom 
frequent and honorable mention is made by our Poet in his 
treatise de Vulg. Eloq. Guinicelli died in 1276, as is proved 
by Fantuzzi, on the Bolognian writers, torn iv. p. 345. See 
Mr. Mathias's Tiraboschi, torn. i. p. 110. There are more of 
Guinicelli's poems to be found in Allacci's Collection, than 
Tiraboschi, who tells us he had not seen it, supposed. From 
these I have selected two, which appear to me singularly 
pathetic. It must however be observed, that the former of 
them is attributed in the Vatican MS. 3-213, to Cino da Pistoia, 
as Bottari informs us in the notes to Lettere di Fra Guittone 
d'Arezzo, p. 171. Many of Cavalcanti's writings, hitherto 
in MS., are said to be publishing at Florence. See Esprit des 
Joumaux, Jan., 1813. [They were edited there in that year, 
but not for sale, by Antonio Cicciaporci, as I learn from 
C a 'aba's Testi di Lingua Ital., 272. J 

Xoi provamo ch' in questo cieco mondo 
Ciascun si vive in angosciosa doglia, 
Ch' in onni avversita venuira '1 tira. 
Beata V alma che lassa tal pondo. 
E va nel ciel, dove e compita zoglia, 
Zoglioso cor far de corrotto e dira. 
Or dunque di chel vostro cor sospira 
Che rallegrar si de del suo migliore, 
Che Dio, nostro signore, 
Volse di lei, come avea Pangel detto, 
Fare il ciel perfetto. 
Per nuova cosa ogni santo la mira : 
Ed ella sta d'avante alia salute ; 
Ed in ver lei parla ogni venule. 

Allacci, Ediz. Napoli, 1661 p 379 

By proof, in this blind mortal world, we know, 
That each one lives in srrief and sore annoy ; 
Such ceaseless strife of fortune we sustain. 
Blessed the soul, that leaves this weight below 
And goes its way to heaven where itThath joy 
Entire, without a touch of wrath or pain. 
Now then what reason hath thy heart to sigh, 
That should be glad, as for desire fulfill'd, 
That God, our sovereign, wili'd 
She, as He told His angel, should be giveu 
To bless and perfect heaven ? 



£82 THE VISION 07, R3 

The letter'd p.ize : and he. perhaps, is lorn, 1 
Win) shall drive either from their nest. The ncise 



Each saint looks on her with admiring eye ; 
And she stands ever in salvation's sight . 
And every virtue bends on her its light 

Conforto gia conforto l'amor chiama, 
E pieta prega per Dio, fatti resto ; 
Or v' inchinate a si dolce preghiera ; 
Spogliatevi di questa vesta grama, 
Da che voi sete per ragion richiesto. 
Che i'uomo per dolor more e dispera. 
Con voi vedeste poi la bella ciera. 
Se v' accogliesse morte in disperanza, 
De si grave pesanza 
Traete il vostro cor ormai per Dio, 
Che non sia cosi rio 
Ver Talma vostra che ancora spiera 
Vederla in ciel e star nelle sue braccia, 
Dunque spene de confortar vi piaccia. 

Allacci, Ediz. Jfapoli. 1661, p. 350 

"Comfort thee, comfort thee." exclaimeth Love ; 

And Pity by thy God adjures thee "rest :" 

Oh then incline ye to such gentle prayer : 

Xor Reason's plea should inerTecmal prove. 

Who bids ye lay aside this dismal vest : 

For man meets death through sadness and despair 

Among you ye have seen a face so fair : 

Be this in mortal mourning some relief. 

And. for more balm of grief. 

Rescue thy spirit from its heavy load. 

Remembering thy God ; 

And that in heaven thou hopest again to share 

In sight of her. and with thine arms to fold : 

Hope then ; nor of this comfort quit thy hold. 

To these. I will add a sonnet by the same writer, from the 
poems printed with the Bella Mano of Giusto de* Conti. FvLi 3 
1715. p. 167. 

lo vo dal ver la mia donna laudare, 

E rassembrarla alia rosa, ed al giglio. 

Till che stella Diana splende. e pare, 

Cib che lassu e bello a lei somiglio. 
Verdi rivere a lei rassembro. Tare. 

Tutto color di porpora. e vermiglio. 

Oro. ed argento. e ricche gioie preclare , 

Medesmo amor per lei raffma raigiio. 
Passa per via adorna, e si gentile, 

Cui bassa orgoglio. a cui dona salute, 

E fal di nostra fe. se non la crede. 
E non le pub appressare, uom che sia vile, 

Ancor ve ne diro maggior vertute, 

Xullo uom pub mal pensar hnche la vede. 

I would from truth my lady's praise supply, 
Resembling her to lily and to rose ; 
Brighter than morning's lucid star she shows 
And fair as that which fairest is on high. 

3 For note, se^ 7 284. 



99, 100. PURGATORY, Caxto XL 283 

Of worldly fame is but a blast of wind, 

That blows from diverse points, and shifts its iiame, 



To the blue wave, I liken her, and sky, 

All color that with pink and crimson glows, 
Gold, silver, and rich stones : nay, lovelier grows 
E'en love himself, when she is standing by. 

She passeth on so gracious and so mild, 
One's pride is quench'd, and one of sick is well : 
And they believe, who from the faith did err; 

And none may near her come by harm defiled. 
A mightier Virtue have I yet to tell ; 
Xo man may think of evil, seeing her. 

The two following sonnets of Guido Cavalcanti may enable 
ihe reader to form some judgment whether Dante had suffi- 
cient reason for preferring him to his predecessor. Guinicelli 

Io temo che la mia disavventura 

Xon faccia si ch' io dico io mi dispero, 

Perb ch' io sento nel cor un pensero, 

Che fa tremar la mente di paura. 
E par ch' ei dica : Amor non t'assicura 

In guisa che tu possa di leggiero 

Alia tua donna si contare ii vero, 

Che morte non ti ponga in sua figura. 
Delia gran doglia, che l'anima sente, 

Si parte dallo core un tal sospiro 

Che va dicendo : spiritei fuggite : 
Allor null' uom, che sia pietoso, miro; 

Che consolasse mia vita dolente, 

Dicendo : spiritei non vi partite. 

Anecdota Literaria ex JMSS. Codicibus auta 
Ediz. Roma, (no year,) v. iii. p. <52 

I fear lest my mischance may so prevail. 
That it may make me of myself despair. 
For, my heart searching. I discover there 
A thought that makes the mind with terror quail. 

It says, meseemeth. " Love shall not avail 
To strengthen thee so much, that thou shalt dare 
Tell her, thou lovest, thy passion or thy prayer, 
To save from power of death thy visage p-ale.' 

Through the iread sorrow that o'erwhelms my soul, 
There issues from my bosom such a sigh, 
As passeth, crying; " Spirits, flee away." 

And then, when I am fainting in my dole, 
JVo man so merciful there standeth by, 
To eomfort me, and answer, "Spirits, stay n 

Belta di donna, e di saccente core, 

E cavalieri armati, che sian genti, 

Cantar d'augelli, e ragionar d'amore, 

Adorni legni in mar, forti e correnti: 
Aria serena, quando appar Talbore, 

E bianca neve scender senza venti, 

Rivera d'acqua, e prato d'ogni fiore, 

Oro ; e argento, azurro in ornamenti: 
Cib che pub la beltate, e la valenza 

Delia mia donna in suo gentil coraggic, 

Far che rassembra vile a chi cio gttarda. 



284 THE VISION Ul-124. 

Shifting the point it blows from. Shalt thou more 

Live in the mouths of mankind, if thy flesh 

Part shrivell'd from thee, than if thou hadst died 

Before the coral and the pap were left ; 

Or e'er some thousand years have pass'd? and thai 

Is, to eternity compared, a space 

Briefer than is the twinkling of an eye 

To the heaven's slowest orb. He there, who treads 

So leisurely before me, far and wide 

Through Tuscany resounded once : and now 

Is in Sienna scarce with whispers named : 

There was he sovereign, when destruction caught 

The maddening rage of Florence, in that day 

Proud as she now is loathsome. Your renown 

Is as the herb, whose hue doth come and go : 

And his might withers it, by whom it sprang 

Crude from the lap of earth.'*' I thus to him : 

'" True are thy sayings : to my heart they breathe 

The kindly spirit of meekness, and allay 

"What tumors' 2 rankle there. But who is he, [plied. 

Of whom thou spakest but now V' ,; This," he re 

" Is Provenzano. He is here, because 

He reach'd, with grasp presumptuous, at the sway 

Of all Sienna. Thus he still hath gone, 

E tanto ha phi d'ogni altra conoscenza, 
Quanto lo Ciel di questa terra e rnaggio, 
A simil di natura ben non tarda. 
La Bella Maw e Rime Antiche. Ediz. Fir., 1715, p. 12H 
Whatso is fair in lady's face or mind. 
. And gentle knights caparison'd and gay, 
Singing of sweet birds unto love inclined, 

And gallant barks chat cut the watery way ; 
The white snow falling without any wind, 
The cloudless sky at break of early day. 
The crystal stream, with dowers the meadow lined, 

Silver, and gold, and azure for array: 
To him that sees the beauty and the worth 
Whose power doth meet and in my lady dwell. 
Ah seem as vile, their price and lustre gone. 
And. as the heaven is higher than the earth. 
So she in knowledge doth each one excel, 
Not slow to good in nature like her own. 
1 He, perhaps, is born.] Some imagine, with much Drob- 
ability, that Dante here augurs the greatness of his own po- 
etical reputation. Others have absurdly fancied that ha 
prophesies the glory of Petrarch. But Petrarch was not yet 
born. Lombardi doubts whether it is not spoken generally 
sf human vicissitudes. 
i nint tumors.] 

Apt words have power to swage 
The tumors of a troubled mina. 

Milton's Samson Agonisies 



125-142. PURGATORY, Cant j XII. 265 

Thus goeth never-resting, since nc died. 

Such is the acquittance render'd back of him, 

Who, in the mortal life, too much hath dared. 5 ' 

I then : " If soul, that to life's verge delays 

Repentance, linger in that lower space, 

Nor hither mount, (unless good prayers befriuid) 

Or ever 1 time, long as it lived, be past ; 

How chanced admittance was von chsafed to him P" 

" When at his glory's topmost height," said he, 
f Respect of dignity all cast aside, 
Freely he fix'd him on Sienna's plain, 
A suitor 2 to redeem his suffering friend. 
Who languish'd in the prison-house of Charles ; 
Nor, for his sake, refused through every vein 
To tremble. More I will not say ; and dark, 
I know, my words are ; but thy neighbors soon 3 
Shall help thee to a comment on the text. 
This is the work, that from these limits freed him." 



CANTO XII 



ARGUMENT 

Dante being desired by Virgil to look down on the ground 
which they are treading, observes that it is wrought over 

3 Or ever.] This line was omitted in the former editions, as 
Mr. Lyell has pointed out to me. 

2 A suitor.] Provenzano Salvani humbled himself so far 
for the sake of one of his friends, who was detained in cap- 
tivity by Charles I. of Sicily, as personally to supplicate the 
people of Sienna to contribute the sum required by the king 
for his ransom : and this act of self-abasement atoned for his 
general ambition and pride. He fell in the battle of Vald 
'Elsa, wherein the Florentines discomfited the Siennese in 
Tune, 1269. G. Villani relates some curious particulars of his 
fate. " Messer Provenzano Salvani, the lord and conductor 
of the army, was taken, and his head cut off and carried 
through all the camp fixed upon a lance. And well was ac- 
complished the prophecy and revelation made to him by the 
Devil by way of witchcraft, but he understood it not; for 
having compelled him to answer how he should succeed in 
the said engagement, he told him lyingly: 'Thou shalt go, 
fight, conquer not, die in the battle, and thy head shall be the 
highest in the camp.' And he thought to have the victory, 
and from these words thought to remain master of all, and 
noted not the fallacy, where he said ' conquer not, die.' And 
therefore it is great folly to trust such counsel as that of the 
Devil." Lib. vii. cap. 31. « 

3 Thy neighbors soon.] "Thou wilt know in the time of 
thy banishment, which is near at hand, what it is to solicit 
favors of others, and ' tremble through e'rery vein,' lest they 
should be rein ed thee. ' 



■>iC THE VISION. 

vsriih imagery exhibiting various instances of pride re- 
corded in history and fable. They leave the first cornice, 
and are ushered to the next by an angel who points am 

:Lr.f v.iy. 

With equal pace, as oxen in the yoke, 
I n ith that laden spirit, journeyed on, 
Long as the mild instructor suffer d me ; 
But, when he hade me quit him, and proceed, 
(For •■ Here,' 3 said he, " behooves with sail and oara 
E e : i: man. as best he may, push on his baik") 
Upri^l::. es ;cr disposed ::r speed. I nrisea 
My body, still in thought submissive bow'd. 

I now my leader's track not loth pursued ; 
And ej :•:; __:- i siii^o: :; _. --re id:e£ aim:;. 

When thus he wam'd Bend thine eyesight 

For thou. :: eese doe -----, Aid: oei ':: _-;:.'. ' .. 
To ruminate the bed beneath ihy feet." 

As. in memorial of the buried, drawn 
Upon earth-level tombs, the sculptured form 
0: vrbe.: ~:-S nice. 1.1 loirs. :: s.^b 
Tt-;j io:en siioem iirrb. bv rem enibren: 7 - : d : : 
Wh ; ~7 s: 1:1 £ sioi^s :iie noeoiis :d:er: ire. 
So savr I :dere. 'v.: ~ibi 111 ::e 1100 is skid 
Of portraiture o'erwrought, whate'er of space 
From forth the mom. : in s refa h is. a : n e t tart 
Him I beheld, above all creatures erst 

:ed noblest, lightening fall from heaven : 
On due robe: side. —.01 :: :■'.: reiesde". pie:ied. 
Briareus ; cumbering earth he lay, through dint 
0: ibi:iid iie-s::il-ie. Tiie Tev.e'::er: ^ :-<£.- 
With £Mars, 2 I saw, and Pallas, round their sire, 
Arm'd still, and gazing on the giants* limbs 

01 o'er the ethereal field. Nimrod I saw : 
A: foot of the stupendous work he stood, 
\ if bewilder'd, looking on the crowd 
Loi._ ■-.:.". - o:n£ j.::ernp: 10. ^eimi-ds pl^da 



S il A: rrfii: ; r ;.:..: As. - i:e: --: Z'::~.::.' rz~> .-_:•: i - 
FirgL, George iv. 328. 

.v: -5 ; 

7de - ir.:= A?: i.::r~i:-:i :: *: "A iifivez. 
V.lrz ::-.ev ^7 if. :" : :: :if FdAzriiz -liln. 
A . d " - 

Beaumant and Fletcher. The Prophetess, act ii. sc. 3. 

The builders such of Subel on the plain 

.■r r Jfilum. P- X-, b. iii. 46§. 



33-68. PURGATORY, Canto XH. 281 

O Niobe ! in what a trance of wo 
Thee I beheld, upon that highway drawn ; 
Seven sons on either side thee slain. O Saul ! 
How ghastly didst thou look, on thine own sword 
Expiring, in Gilboa, from that hour 
Ne'er visited with rain from heaven, or dew 

O fond Arachne ! thee I also saw, 
Half spider now, in anguish, crawling up 
The unfinish'd web thou weavedst to thy bane 

Rehoboam I 1 here thy shape doth seem 
Low'ring no more defiance ; but fear-smote, 
With none to chase him, in his chariot whirl'd. 

Was shown beside upon the solid floor, 
How dear Alcmseoir forced his mother rate 
That ornament, in evil hour received : 
How, in the temple, on Sennacherib 3 fell 
His sons, and how a corpse they left him there. 
Was shown the scath, and cruel mangling made 
By Tomyris 4 on Cyrus, when she cried, 
" Blood thou didst thirst for: take thy fill of blood " 
Was shown how routed in the battle fled 
The Assyrians, Holofernes 5 slain, and e'en 
The relics of the carnage. Troy I mark'd, 
In ashes and in caverns. Oh ! how fallen, 
How abject, Ilion, was thy semblance there. 

What master of the pencil or the style 6 [madu 

Had traced the shades and lines, that might hava 
The subtlest workman wonder? Dead, the dead ; 
The living seenrd alive : with clearer view, 
His eye beheld not, who beheld the truth, 
Than mine what I did tread on, while I went 
Low bending. Now swell out, and with stiff necks 
Pass on, ye sons of Eve ! veil not your looks, 
Lest they descry the evil of your path. 

1 noted not (so busied was my thought) 
How much we now had circled of the mount ; 



i Rehoboam.] 1 Kings, xii. 13. 

2 Alcmacn.] Virg., yEn., lib. vi. 445, and Homer, Od., xi. 325. 

3 Sennacherib.'] 2 Kings, xix. 37. 

4 Tomyris.'] Caput Cyri amputatum in utreni humano san- 
guine repletum conjici Regina jubet cum hac exprobationa 
rrudelitatis, Sofia te, inquit, sanguine quem sitisti, cujusque 
lusatiabilis semper fuisti. Justin., lib. i. cap. 8. 

5 Holofernes.] Judith, xiii. 

6 What master of the pencil or the style.] 

inimitable on earth 

By mode], or by shadin? pencil drawn. 

Milton, P. L., b. Ui. 5O0L 



^88 THE VISION. 09-lOt 

And of his course yet more the sun had spent ; 
When he, who with still wakeful caution went, 
Admonish'd : " Raise thou up thy head : for know 
Time is not now for slow suspense. Behold, 
That way, an angel hasting towards us. Lo, 
Where duly the sixth handmaid 1 doth return 
From service on the day. Wear thou, in look 
And gesture, seemly grace of reverent awe ; 
That gladly he may forward us aloft. 
Consider that this (lay ne'er dawns again." 

Time's loss he had so often warn'd me 'gainst, 
I could not miss the scope at which he aim'd. 

The goodly shape appro ach'd us, snowy white 
In vesture, and with visage casting streams 
Of tremulous lustre like the matin star. 
His arms he open'd, then his wings ; and spake : 
" Onward ! the steps, behold, are near ; and now 
The ascent is without difficulty gain'd." 

A scanty few are they, who, when they hear 
Such tidings, hasten. O, ye race of men ! 
Though born to soar, why suffer ye a wind 
So slight to baffle ye ? He led us on 
Where the rock parted ; here, against my front, 
Did beat his wings ; then promised I should fare 
In safety on my way. As to ascend 
That steep, upon whose brow the chapel stands, 2 
(O'er Rubaconte, looking lordly down 
On the well-guided city 3 ) up the right 
The impetuous rise is broken by the steps 
Carved in that old and simple age, when still 
The registry 4 and label rested safe ; 
Thus is the acclivity relieved, which here, 
Precipitous, from the other circuit falls : 
But, on each hand, the tall cliff presses close. 

As, entering, there we turn'd, voices, in strain 
Ineffable, sang : " Blessed 5 are the poor 

1 The sixth handmaid.'] Compare Canto xxii. 1J6. 

2 Th*, zhapel stands.] The church of San Miniato in Flor 
ence, situated on a height that overl-ooks the Arno, where it 
is crossed by tha bridge Rubaconte, so called from Messei 
Rubaconte da Mandelia. ; of Milan, chief magistrate of Flor- 
ence, by whom the bridge was founded in 1237 See G. Vil- 
lain, lib. vi. cap. 27. 

3 The well-guided city.] This is said ironically of Florence. 

4 The registry.] In allusion to certain instances of fraud 
iommitted in Dante's time with respect to the public accounts 
and measures. See Paradise, Canto xvi. 103. 

6 Blessed.] " Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the 
kingdem of heaven." Matth. v. 3. 



05-129 PURGATORY, Canto XIII. 289 

In spirit." Ah ! how far unlike to these 
The straits of hell: here songs to usher us, 
There shrieks of wo. We climb the holy sturs 
And lighter to myself by far I seem'd 
Than on the plain before ; whence thus I spake : 
< Say, master, of what heavy thing have I 
Been lighten'd ; that scarce aught the sense of toil 
Affects me journeying?" He in few replied: 
' When sin's broad characters, 1 that yet remain 
Upon thy temples, though well nigh effaced, 
Shall be, as one is, all clean razed out ; 
Then shall thy feet by heartiness of will 
Be so o'ercome, they not alone shall feel 
No sense of labor, but delight much more 
Shall wait them, urged along their upward way." 

Then like to one, upon whose head is placed 
Somewhat he deems not of, but from the becks 
Of others, as they pass him by ; his hand 
Lends therefore help to assure him, searches, r?nds> 
And well performs such office as the eye 
Wants power to execute ; so stretching forth 
The fingers of my right hand, did I find 
Six only of the letters, which his sword, 
Who bare the keys, had traced upon my brow. 
The leader, as he mark'd mine action, smiled. 



CAKTO XIJI 

ARGUMENT. 
They gain the second cornice, where the sin of envy x, 
purged ; and having proceeded a little to the right, they 
hear voices uttered by invisible spirits recounting famous 
examples of charity, and next behold the shades, or souls, 
of the envious clad in sackcloth, and having their eyes 
sewed up with an iron thread. Among these Dante finds 
Sapia, a Siennese lady, from whom he learns the cause of 
her being there. 

We reach' d the summit of the scale, and stood 
Upon the second buttress of that mount 
Which healeth him who climbs. A cornice there, 
Like to the former, girdles round the lull ; 
Save that its arch, with sweep less ample, bends. 

Shadow, nor image there, is seen : all smooth 

1 Sin's broad characters.] Of the seven P's, that denoted 
the same number of sins (Peccata) whereof he was to be 
cleansed, (see Canto ix. 100,) the first had now vanished in 
consequence of his having passed the place where the sin © 
uride, the chief of them, was expiated. 



290 THE VISION 7-41 

The rampart and the path, reflecting naught 
But the rock's sullen hue. " If here we wait, 
For some to question," said the bard, " I fear 
Our choice may haply meet too long delay." 

Then fixedly upon the sun his eyes 
He fasten'd ; made his right the central point 
From whence to move ; and turn'd the left aside 
" O pleasant light, my confidence and hope ! 
Conduct us thou," he cried, " on this new way, 
Where now I venture ; leading to the bourn 
We seek. The universal world to thee 
Owes warmth and lustre. If 1 no other cause 
Forbid, thy beams should ever be our guide." 

Far, as is measured for a mile on earth, 
In brief space had we journey'd ; such prompt wil 
Impell'd ; and towards us flying, now were heard 
Spirits invisible, who courteously 
Unto love's table bade the welcome guest. 
The voice, that first flew by, call'd forth aloud, 
" They have no wine ;" 2 so on behind us pass'd, 
Those sounds reiterating, nor yet lost 
In the faint distance, when another came 
Crying, " I am Orestes," 3 and alike 
Wing'd its fleet way. " O father !" I exclainr d, 
" What tongues are these 1" and as I question'd, lo 
A third exclaiming, " Love ye those have wrong'd 
you." 4 [scourge* 

" This circuit," said my teacher, " knotd the 
For envy : and the cords are therefore drawn 
By charity's correctmg^hand. The curb 
Is of a harsher sound : as thou shalt hear 
(If I deem rightly) ere thou reach the pass, 
Where pardon sets them free. But fix thine oyes 
Intently through the air ; and thou shalt see 
A multitude before thee seated, each 
Along the shelving grot." Then more than erst 

i If.] " Unless there be some urgent necessity for travelling 
Ty night, the day-light should be preferred for that puipose." 

2 They have no wine.'] John ii. 3. These words of the Vir- 
gin are referred to as an instance of charity. 

3 Orestes.} Alluding to his friendship with Pyladcs. 

4 Love ye those have -wrong'd you.~\ "But I say unto you, 
Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to 
them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use 
you, and persecute you." Matt. v. 44. 

5 The scourge.] " The chastisement of envy consists in 
hearing examples of the opposite virtue, charity. As a curl 
and restraint on this vice, you will presently hear verv d.f 
ferent sounds, those of threatening and punishment." 



ta-80 PURGATORY, Canto XIII. 29 1 

I oped mine eyes ; before me view'd ; and saw 
Shadows with garments dark as was the rock ; 
And when we pass'd a little forth, I heard 
A crying, " Blessed Mary ! pray for us, 
Michael and Peter ! all ye saintly host !" 

I do not think there walks on earth this day 
Man so remorseless, that he had not yearn'd 
With pity at the sight that next I saw. 
Mine eyes a load of sorrow teem'd, w T hen now 
I stood so near them, that their semblances 
Came clearly to my view. Of sackcloth vile 
Their covering seem'd ; and, on his shoulder, one 
Did stay another, leaning ; and all lean'd 
Against the cliff. E'en thus the blind and poor, 
Near the confessionals, to crave an alms, 
Stand, each his head upon his fellow's sunk : 
So most to stir compassion, not by sound 
Of words alone, but that which moves not less, 
The sight of misery. And as never beam 
Of noon-day visiteth the eyeless man, 
E'en so was heaven a niggard unto these 
Of his fair light : for, through the orbs of all, 
A thread of wire, impiercing, knits them up, 
As for the taming of a haggard hawk. 

It were a wrong, methought, to pass and look 
On others, yet myself the while unseen. 
To my sage counsel therefore did I turn. 
He knew the meaning of the mute appeal, 
Nor waited for my questioning, but said : 
" Speak ; and be brief, be subtile in thy words." 

On that part of the cornice, whence no rim 
Engarlands its steep fall, did Virgil come ; 
On the other side me were the spirits, their cheeks 
Bathing devout with penitential tears, 
That through the dread impalement forced a way. 

I turn'd me to them, and " O shades !" said I, 
" Assured that to your eyes unveil'd shall shine 
The lofty light, sole object of your wish, 
So may heaven's grace 1 clear whatsoe'er of foam 

1 So may heaven's grace.] 

Se tosto grazia risolva le schinme 
Di vostra coscienza, si che chiaro 
Per esso scenda della mente il flume. 
This is a fine moral, and finely expressed. Unless the con- 
science be cleared from its impurity, which it can only tho- 
roughly be by an influence from above, the mind itself canno' 
act freely and clearly. " If ye will do his will, ye shall kno^v 
of the doctrine." 



£g HIE VISION 81-114 

Floats turbid on the conscience, tl at thenceforth 

The stream of mind roll limpid from its source ; 

As ye declare (for so shall ye impart 

A boon I dearly prize) if any soul 

Of Latium dwell among ye : and perchance 

That soul may profit, if I learn so much.''' 

M My brother ! we are. each one, citizens 
Of one true city. 1 Any. thou wouldst say. 
Who lived a stranger in Italia's land." 

So heard I answering, as appear'd, a voice 
That onward came some space from whence I stxtd 

A spirit I noted, in whose look was mark'd 
Expectance. Ask ye how ? The chin was raised 
As in one reft of sight. •'•' Spirit/' said I. 
'•'Who for thy rise art tutoring, (if thou be 
That which didst answer to me) or by place. 
Or name, disclose thyself, that I may know thee." 

M I was," it answer'd, M of Sienna : here 
I cleanse away with these the evil life, 
Soliciting with tears that He, who is, 
Vouchsafe him to us. Though Sapia 2 named, 
In sapience I excelFd not ; gladder far 
Of other's hurt, than of the good befell me. 
That thou mayst own I now deceive thee not, 
Hear, if my folly were not as I speak it. 
When now my years sloped waning down the arch, 
It so bechanced, my fellow-citizens 
Near Colle met their enemies in the field : 
And I pray'd God to grant what He had will'd. 3 
There were they vanquished, and betook themselves 
Unto the bitter passages of flight. 
I marked the hunt ; and waxing out of bounds 
In gladness, lifted up my shameless brow, 
And. like the merlin 4 cheated by a cleam. 



■ Citizens 



Of one true city.] u For here we have no continuing ci;\ 
but we seek one to come." Heb. xiti. 14. 

2 Sapia.] A lady of Sienna, who living in exile at Colle, 
was so overjoyed at a defeat which her countrymen sustained 
near that place, that she declared nothing more was wanting 
to make her die contented. The Latin annotator on the 
Monte Cassino MS. says of this lady : " fuit uxor D. Cinii o"e 
Pigezo de Senis." 

3 And I pray'd God tog-rant what He had will'd.) That her 
countrymen should be defeated in battle. 

4 The merlin.] The story of the merlin is. that having 
been induced by a gleam of fine weather in the winter to 
escape from his master, he was sxm oppressed by the rigor 
if the season. 



115-145 PURGATORY, canto XIII. 29S 

Cried, ' It is over. Heaven ! I fear thee not ' 

Upon my verge of life I wish ? d for peace 

With God ; nor yet repentance had supplied 

What I did lack of duty, were it not 

The hermit Piero, 1 touch'd with charity, 

In his devout oraisons thought on me. 

But who art thou that question'st of our state, 

Who go'st, as I believe, with lids unclosed, 

And breathest in thy talk?" — " Mine eyes," said I, 

ft May yet be here ta'en from me ; but not long ; 

For they have not offended grievously 

With envious glances. But the wo beneath 5 

Urges my soul with nfore exceeding dread. 

That nether load already weighs me down." 

She thus : " Who then, among us here aloft, 
Hath brought thee, if thou weenest to return?" 

" He," answerd I, " who standeth mute beside me 
I live : of me ask therefore, chosen spirit ! 
If thou desire I yonder yet should move 
For thee my mortal feet." — " Oh !" she replied, 
'*' This is so strange a thing, it is great sign 
That God doth love thee. Therefore with thy prayei 
Sometime assist me : and, by that I crave, 
Which most thou covetest, that if thy feet 
E'er tread on Tuscan soil, thou save my fame 
Amongst my kindred. Them shalt thou behold 
With that vain multitude, 3 who set their hope 
On Telamone's haven ; there to fail 
Confounded, more than when the fancied stream 
They sought, of Dian call'd : but they, who lead 
Their navies, more than ruin'd hopes shall mourn." 



1 The hermit Piero. J Piero Pettinagno, a holy hermit of 
Florence. 

* The wo beneath.] Dante felt that he was much moif 
subject to the sin of pride, than to that of envy ; and this is 
just what we should have concluded of a mind such as his. 

3 That vain multitude.'] The Siennese. See Hell, c. xxix. 
118. "Their acquisition of Telamone, a seaport on the con 
fines of the Maremma, has led them to conceive hopes of 
becoming a naval power: but this scheme will prove as chi- 
merical as their former plan for the discovery of a subterra- 
neous stream under their city." Why they gave the appel 
lation of Diana to the imagined stream, Venturi says he 
jeaves it to the antiquaries of Sienna to conjecture. 

4 They, -who lead.] The Latin note to the Monte Cassino 
MS. informs us, that those who were to command the fleets 
of the Siennese, in the event of their becoming a naval power, 
lost their lives during their employment at Telamone, through 
the pestilent air of the Maremma, which lies near that place- 



894 THE \ISION l-*i 

CANTO XIV 

ARGUMENT. 

Our Poet on this second cornice finds also the seals of Guide 
del Duca of Brettinoro, and Rinieri da Calboii of Romagna; 
the latter of whom, hearing that he comes from the banks 
of the Arno, inveighs against the degeneracy of all those 
who dwell in the cities visited by that stream ; and the 
former, in like manner, against the inhabitants of Ro- 
magna. On leaving these, our Poets hear voices recording 
noted instances of envy. 

" Say, 1 who is he around our mountain winds. 
Or ever death has pruned his wing for flight ; 
That opes his eyes, and covers them at will V 9 

" I know not who he is, but know thus much ; 
He comes not singly. Do thou ask of him, 
For thou art nearer to him ; and take heed, 
Accost him 2 gently, so that he may speak." 

Thus on the right two spirits, bending each 
Toward the other, talk'd of me ; then both 
Addressing me, their faces backward lean'd, 
And thus the one 3 began : " O soul, who yet 
Pent in the body, tendest towards the sky ! 
For charity, we pray thee, comfort us ; 
Recounting whence thou comest, and who thou art : 
For thou dost make us, at the favour shown thee , 
Marvel, as at a thing that ne'er hath been." 

" There stretches through the midst of Tuscany." 
I straight began, " a brooklet, 4 whose well-head 
Springs up in Falterona ; with his race 
Not satisfied, -when he some hundred miles 
. Hath measured. From his banks bring I this frame 

i Say.] The two spirits who thus speak to each other are, 
< Guido del Duca of Brettinoro, and Rinieri da Calboii of Ro 
i : . magna. 

2 Accost him..] It is worthy of remark, that the Latin an- 
• . notator on the Monte Cassino MS. agrees with Landino in 
: reading " a colo," instead of "accolo," and interprets it as he 
. does: "Nil aliud vult auctor dicere de colo, nisi quod cum 
i interroget ita dulciter ut respondeat (sic) eum ad colum, id 
* est quod tantum respondeat auctor eis qiiod animus eorum 
r remaneat in quiete et non in suspenso." " The author means 
r to say, that the spirit should interrogate him courteously, 
r: that he may return such an answer as shall put a per/orf to 
n their suspense." Still I have retained my translation of the 
i common reading generally supposed to be put by syncope foi 

*' accoglilo," "accost him." 

3 The one.] Guido del Duca. 

4 A brooklet.] The Arno, that rises in Falterona, a moun* 
^ain in the Apennine Its course is a hundred and twenty 

: tiiles, according to G. Villani, who traces it accurately. 



22-53. PURGATORY, Canto XIV 295 

To tell you who I am were words misspent : 
For yet my name scarce sounds on rumor's lip." 

" If well I do incorporate with my thought 
The meaning of thy speech," said he, who first 
Address'd me, " thou dost speak of Arno's wave." 

To whom the other :* " Why hath he conceal'd 
The title of that river, as a man 
Doth of some horrible thing ?" The spirit, who 
Thereof was question'd, did acquit him thus : 
" I know not : but 'tis fitting well the name 
Should perish of that vale ; for from the source, 2 
Where teems so plenteously the Alpine steep 
Maim'd of Pelorus, 3 (that doth scarcely pass 4 
Beyond that limit.) even to the point 
Where unto oceau is restored what heaven [streams, 
Drains from the exhaustless store for all earth's 
Throughout trTe space is virtue worried down, 
As 't were a snake, by all, for mortal foe ; 
Or through disastrous influence on the place, 
Or else distortion of misguided wills 
That custom goads to evil : whence in those, 
The dwellers in that miserable vale, 
Nature is so transform'd, it seems as they 
Had shared of Circe's feeding. 'Midst brute swine 5 
Worthier of acorns than of other food 
Created for man's use, he shapeth first 
His obscure way ; then, sloping onward, finds 
Curs, 6 snarlers more in spite than power, from whom 
He turns with scorn aside : still journeying down, 
By how much more the cursed and luckless foss 7 
Swells out to largeness, e'en so much it finds 
Dogs turning into wolves. 8 Descending still 

i The other.] Rinieri da Calboli. 

2 From the source.] "From the rise of the Arno in that 
'Alpine steep,' the Apennine, from whence Pelorus in Sicily 
was torn by a convulsion of the earth, even to the point 
where the same river unites its waters to the ocean, Virtue 
is persecuted by all." 

3 .Maim'd of Pelorus.] Virg., JEn., lib. iii. 414. Lucan, 
Phars., lib. iii. 438. 

A hill 

Torn from Pelorus. Jlilton, P. L., b. i. 232 

4 That doth scarcely pass.] " Pelorus is in few places highei 
than Falterona, where the Arno springs." Lombardi explains 
this differently, and, I think, erroneously 

5 Widst brute swine.J The people of Casentine. 

6 Curs.] The Arno leaves Arezzo about four miles tD the 
if ft. 

T Fuss.] So in his anger he terms the A mo. 
s Wohes.' The Florentines. 



296 THE VISION. 5-i-w 

Through yet more hollow eddies, next lie meefc 

A race of foxes. 1 so replete with craft. 

They do not fear that skill can master it. 

Xor will I cease because my words are heard 3 

By other ears than thine. It shall be well 

For this man, 3 if he keep in memory 

What from no erring spirit I reveal. 

Lo ! I behold thy grandson. 4 that becomes 

A hunter of those wolves., upon the shore 

Of the fierce stream ; and cows them all with dread 

Their flesh, yet living, sets he up to sale. 

Then, like an aged beast, to slaughter dooms 

Many of life lie reaves, himself of worth 

And goodly estimation. Smear'd with gore, 

Mark how he issues from the rueful wood ; 

Leaving such havoc, that in thousand years 

It spreads not to prime lustihood again? 5 

As one. who tidings hears of wo to come, 
Changes his looks perturb'd. from whate'er part 
The peril grasp him ; so beheld I change 
That spirit, who had turn'd to listen ; struck 
With sadness, soon as he had caught the word. 

His visage, and the other's speech, did raise 
Desire in me to know the names of both ; 
Whereof, with meek entreaty, I inquired. 

The shade, who late addicss"d me, thus resumed 
"' Thy wish imports, that I vouchsafe to do 
For thy sake what thou wilt not do 5 for mine. 
But, since God's will is that so largely shine 
His grace in thee, I will be liberal too 
Guido of Due a know then that I am. 
Envy so parch'd my blood, that had I seen 
A fellow-man made joyous, thou hadst mark'd 
A livid paleness overspread my cheek. 
Such harvest reap I of the seed I sow'd. 
O man ! why place 6 thy heart where there doth need 
Exclusion of participants in crood ? 



i Fines.] The Pisans. 

- Mg words are heard. J It should be recollected that Guido 

still addresses himself to Rinieri. 

• For this man.] '"For Dante, who has fold as that he 
comes from the banks of Arno." 

4 Thy grandson. j Fulcieri da Calboli. grandson of Rinierj 
da Calboli who is here spoken to. The atrocities predicted 
came to pass in 1302. See G. Villani. lib. viii. c. .59. 

3 Wliat thou wilt not do.] Dante having declined telling 
him his name. See v. Q"2. 

6 TFiiy p 7 acc] This will be explained in the ensuing Canto. 



91-107. PURGATORY, Canto XIV. 297 

This is Rinieri's spirit ; this, the boast 

And honor of the house of Calboli ; 

Where of his worth no heritage remains. 

Nor his the only blood, that hatli been stripp'd, 

('Twixt Po, the mount, the Reno, and the shore 1 ) 

Of all that truth or fancy 2 asks for bliss : 

But, in those limits, such a growth has sprung 

Of rank and venom'd roots, as long would mock 

Slow culture's toil. Where is good Lizio ? 3 where 

Manardi, Traversaro, and Carpigna? 4 

O bastard slips of old Romagna's line ! 

When in Bologna the low artisan, 

And in Faenza yon Bernardin 6 sprouts, 

A gentle cion from ignoble stem. 

Wonder not, Tuscan, if thou see me weep, 

When I recall to mind those once loved names, 

Guido of Prata, 7 and of Azzo him 8 

1 ' Ticixt Po, thn mount, the Reno, and the shore.] The boun 
daries of Romagna. 

2 Fancy.] " Trastullo." Quadrio, in the notes on the sec 
ond of the Salmi Penitenziali of our author, understands this 
in a higher sense, as meaning that joy which results from an 
easy and constant practice of virtue. See Opere di Dante, 
Zatta ediz. torn. iv. part ii. p. 193. And he is followed by 
Lombardi. 

3 Lizio.] Lizio da Valbona introduced into Boccaccio's 
Decameron, G. V. N. 4. 

4 Manardi, Traversaro, and Carpigna.] Arrigo Manardi oi 
Faenza, or, as some say, of Brettinoro ; Pier Traversaro, lord 
of Ravenna; and Guido di Carpigna of Montefeltro. 

6 In Bologna the low artisan.] One who had been a me- 
chanic, named Lambertaccio, arrived at almost supreme 
power in Bolegna. 

Quando in Bologna un Fabro si ralligna : 
duando in Faenza un Bernardin di Fosco. 
The pointing and the marginal note of the Monte Cassino 
MS. entirely change the sense of these two lines. There is a 
mark of interrogation added to each ; and by way of answer 
to both there is written, " Quasi dicat numquam." Fabro is 
made a proper name, and it is said of him : " Iste fuit Dom. 
Faber de Lambertaciis de Bononia ;" and Benvenuto da 
imola calls him "Nobilis Miles." I have not ventured to 
alter the translation so as to make it accord with this inter- 
pretation, as it must have been done in the face, I believe, 
of nearly all the editions, and, as far as may be gathered 
from the silence of Lombardi, of the MSS. also which that 
commentator had consulted. But those, who wish to see 
more on the subject, are referred to Monti's Proposta, torn. hi. 
p te 2, under the word " Rallignare." 

6 Yon Bernardin.] Bernardin di Fosco, a man of low on 
gin, but great talents, who governed at Faenza. 

7 Prata.] A place between Faenza and Ravenna. 

s Of Azzo him.] Ugolino ) of the Ubaldini family in Tos« 
cany. 



298 THE VISION. lOS-m 

That dwelt with us j 1 Tignoso 2 and his tro<>p, 
With Traversaro's house and Anastagio's, 3 
(Each race disherited ;) and beside these, 
The ladies 4 and the knights, the toils and ease, 
That witch'd us into love and courtesy ; 5 
Where now such malice reigns in recreant hearta. 
O Brett inoro ! 6 wherefore tarriest still, 



i With us.] Lombardi claims the reading, " nosco," instead 
of " vosco," " with us," instead of " with you," for his favor- 
ite edition ; but it is also in Landino's of 1488. 

2 Tignoso.] Federigo Tignoso of Rimini. 

8 Traversaro's house and Anastagio's.] Two noble families 
of Ravenna. See v. 100. She, to whom Dryden has given 
the name of Honoria, in the fable so admirably paraphrased 
from Boccaccio, was of the former : her lover and the spectre 
were of the Anastagi family. See Canto xxviii. 20. 

* The ladies, fyc] 

Le donne, e i cavalier, gli affanni, e gli agi 
Che ne 'nvogliava amore e cortesia. 
These two lines express the true spirit of chivalry. " Agi" 
is understood, by the commentators whom I have consulted, 
to mean " the ease procured for others by the exertions of 
knight-errantry." But surely it signifies the alternation of 
ease with labor. Venturi is of opinion that the opening of 
the Orlando Furioso — 

Le donne, i cavalier, l'arme, gli amori, 
Le cortesie, l'audaci imprese io canto, 
originates in this passage. 

5 Courtesy.] " Cortesia e onestade," &c. Convito, p. 65. 
" Courtesy and honor are all one ; and because anciently 
virtue and good manners were usual in courts, as the con- 
trary now is, this term was derived from thence : courtesy 
was as much as to say, custom of courts ; which word, if it 
were now taken from courts, especially those of Italy, would 
be no other than turpitude," " turpezza." 

Courtesy, 

Which oft is sooner found in lowly sheds 
With smoky rafters, than in tapstry halls 
And courts of princes, where it first was named, 
And yet is most pretended. Milton, Comus. 

Marino has exceeded his usual extravagance in his play 
on this word. 

Ma come pub vero diletto 1 b come 
Vera quiete altrui donar la Corte ? 
Le die la Cortesia del proprio nome 
Solo il principio, il fine ha della Morte. 

Adone, c. ix. si. 77. 

6 O Brettinoro.] A beautifully situated castle in Romagna, 
the hospitable residence of Guido del Duca, who is here 
speaking. Landino relates, that there were several of this 
family, who, when a stranger arrived among them con- 
tended with one another by whom he should be entertained ■ 
and that in order to end this dispute, they set up a pitlai 
with as many rings as there were fathers of families among 



.15-134. PURGATORY, Canto XIV. 299 

Since form of thee thy family hath gone, 
And many, hating evil, join'd their steps? 
Well doeth he, tin ,t bids his lineage cease 
Bagnacavallo ; x Castracaro ill, 
And Conio worse, 2 who care to propagate 
A race of Counties 3 from such blood as theirs 
Well shall ye also do, Pagani, 4 then 
When from among you hies your demon child ; 
Not so howe'er, 5 that thenceforth there remain 
True proof of what ye were. O Hugolin, 6 
Thou sprung of Fantolinrs lLie ! thy name 
Is safe : since none is look'd for after thee 
To cloud its lustre, warping from thy stock. 
But, Tuscan ! go thy ways ; for now I take 
Far more delight in weeping, than in words. 
Such 7 pity for your sakes hath wrung my heart." 
We knew those gentle spirits, at parting, heard 
Our steps. Their silence therefore, of our way, 
Assured us. Soon as we had quitted them, 
Advancing onward, lo ! a voice, that seem'd 

them, a ring being assigned to each, and that accordingly as 
a stranger on his arrival hung his horse's bridle on one of 
other of these, he became his guest to whom the ring be- 
longed. 

1 Bagnacavallo.] A castle between Imola and Ravenna 

2 ' Castracaro ill. 

And Conio worse.] Both in Romagna 

3 Counties.] I have used this word here for "Counts," as 
it is in Shakspeare. 

4 Pagani.] The Pagani were lords of Faenza and Imola. 
One of them, Machinardo, was named the Demon, from hii 
treachery. See Hell, Canto xxvii. 47, and note. 

5 A'ot so howe'er.] " Yet your offspring will be stained 
with »)me vice, and will not afford true proof of the worth 
of your ancestors." 

6 Hugolin.] Ugolino Ubaldini, a noble and virtuous person 
in Faenza, who, on account of his age probably, was not 
likely to leave any offspring behind him. He is enumerated 
among the poets by Crescimbeni, and by Tiraboschi, Mr. 
Mathias's edit., vol. i. p. 143 ; and I'ertican cites a beautifu 
little poem by him in the Apologia di Dante, parte ii. c. 27 
but with so little appearance of antiquity that nothing less 
tnan the assurance of so able a critic could induce ene for a 
moment to receive it as genuine. 

" Such.] Here again the Nidobeatina edition adopted by 
Lombardi. and the Monte Cassino MS., differ from the cc Tri- 
llion reading, and both have 

Si m' ha nostra region la mente stretta 
Our country's sorrow has sc ivrung my heait 
ir.»tead of 

Si m' ha vostra ragion, &c. 



300 THE VISION. 135-lc* 

Like volley'd lightning, when it rives the air, 
Met us, and shouted, " Whosoever finds 
Will slay me f 1 then fled from us. as the bolt 
Lanced sudden from a downward-rush.ii: g 
When it had given short truce unto our hearing, 
Behold the other with a crash as loud 
As the quick-following thunder : " Mark in me 
A^glauros, 2 tunrd to rock." I, at the sound 
Retreating; drew more closely to my guide. 
Now in mute stillness rested all the air ; 
And thus he spake : " There was the galling bit, 3 
Which 4 should keep man within his boundary. 
But your old enemy so baits the hook, 
He drags you eager to him. Hence nor curb 
Avails you, nor reclaiming call. Heaven calls/ 
And, round about you wheeling, courts your sfaze 
With everlasting beauties. Yet your 
Turns with fond doting still upon the earth. 
Therefore He smites vou who discerneth all." 



CANTO XV. 

ARGUMENT. 

An angel invites them to ascend, the next steep. On ther 
way Dante suggests certain donbts. which are resolved b; 
Virgil ; and, when they reach the third cornice, where the 
sin of anger is purged, our Poet, in a kind of waking dream 
beholds remarkable instances of patience ; and soon after 
they are enveloped in a dense fog. 

As much 6 as 'twixt the third hour's close and dawn- 
Appeareth of heaven's sphere, that ever whirls 



Whosoever finds 



Will slay me.] The words of Cain, Gen. iv. 14 

2 Aglauros.] Ovid. Met., lib. ii. fab. 12. 

s There was the galling- bit.] Referring to what had beei) 
before said, Canto xiii. 35. The commentatois 
musual word " camo," which occurs here in the original ; 
but they have not observed, I believe, that Dante himself 
nses it in the De Monarchist, lib. iii. p. 155. For the Greek 
word x&iiov see a fragment by S. Petrus .Hex. in Routh\ 
Reliquiae Sacra?, vol. iii. p. 342, and note. 

4 Which.] Mr. Darley has noticed the omission of this line 
In the former editions. 

5 Heaven calls.] 

Or ti solleva a piii beata spene, 
Mirando il ciel. che ti si volve intorno 
Immortal ed adorro. Petrarca, Canzone. I'vopensandj 
5 03 much.] It want «d three hours of sunset. 



3-29. PURGATORY, Canto XV 301 

As restless as an infant in his play ; 

So much appear d remaining to the sun 

Of his slope journey towards the western goal. 

Evening was there, and here the noon of night ; 
And full upon our forehead smote the beams. 
For round the mountain, circling, so our path 
Had led us, that toward the sunset now 
Direct we journey'd ; when I felt a weight 
Of more exceeding splendor, than before, 
Press on my front. The cause unknown, amaze 
Possess'd me ; and both hands 1 against my brows 
Lifting, I interposed them, as a screen, 
That of its gorgeous superflux of light 
Clips the diminish'd orb. As when the ray, 2 
Striking on water or the surface clear 
Of mirror, leaps unto the opposite part, 
Ascending at a glance, 3 e'en as it fell, 
And as much 4 differs from the stone, that falls 
Through equal space, (so practic skill hath shown :) 
Thus, with refracted light, before me seem'd 
The ground there smitten ; whence, in sudden haste, 
My sight recoiPd. " What is this, sire beloved ! 
'Gainst which I strive to shield the sight in vain ?" 
Cried I, " and which toward us moving seems?" 

" Marvel not, if the family of heaven," 
He answer'd, " yet with dazzling radiance dim 
Thy sense. It is a messenger who comes, 



1 Both hands.} 

Raising his hana to save the dazzled sense. 

Southey's Thalaba, b. xiL 

2 As when the ray.] 

Sicut aquae trenmlum labrisubi lumen aenis 
Sole repercussum, aut radiantis imagine lunse, 
Omnia pervolitat late loca, jamque sub auras 
Erigitur, summique ferit laquearia tecti. 

JSiUj lib. viii. 25. 
Compare Apoll. Rhodius, iii. 755. 
8 Ascending at a glance.] 
Quod simul ac primum sub divo splendor aquai 
Ponitur : extemplo, ccelo stellante, serena 
Sidera respondent in aqua radiantia mundi. 
Jamne vides igitur, quam parvo tempore imago 
^Etheris ex oris ad terrarum accidat oras. 

Lucret., lib. iv. 215. 
4 And as much.] Lombardi, I think justly, observes that 
this does not refer to the length of time which a stone is in 
falling to the ground, but to the perpendicular line which 
it describes when falling, as contrasted with the angle of 
incidence formed by light reflected from water or fum a 
Elinor. 

26 



302 THE VISION 3«-6« 

Inviting man's ascent. Such sights ere long, 

Not grievous, shall impart to thee delight, 

As thy perception is by nature wrought 

Up to their pitch." The blessed angel, soon. 

As we had reach'd him, hail'd us with glad voice • 

" Here enter on a ladder far less steep 

Than ye have yet encounter'd." We forthwith 

Ascending, heard behind us chanted sweet, 

tf Blessed the merciful," 1 and " Happy thou, 

That conquer'st." Lonely each, my guide and I f 

Pursued our upward way ; and as we went, 

Some profit from his words I hoped to win, 

And thus of him inquiring, framed my speech : 

" What meant Romagna's spirit, 2 when he spake 

Of bliss exclusive, with no partner shared ?" 

He straight replied : " No wonder, since he knows, 
What sorrow waits on his own worst defect, 
If he chide others, that they less may mourn. 
Because ye point your wishes at a mark, 
Where, by communion of possessors, part 
Is lessen'd, envy bloweth up men's sighs. 
No fear of that might touch ye, if the love 
Of higher sphere exalted your desire. 
For there, 3 by how much more they call it ours, 
So much propriety of each in good 
Increases more, and heighten'd charity 
Wraps that fair cloister in a brighter flame." 

" Now lack I satisfaction more," said I, 
" Than if thou hadst been silent at the first ; 
And doubt more gathers on my laboring thought.. 
How can it chance, that good distributed, 
The many, that possess it, makes more rich, 
Than if 't were shared by few ?" He answering thus • 
" Thy mind, reverting still to things of earth, 
Strikes darkness from true light. The highest good 
Unlimited, ineffable, doth so speed 
To love, as beam to lucid body darts, 

1 Blessed the merciful.] Matt. v. 7. 

2 Romagna's spirit.] Guido del Duca, of Brettinoro, whom 
*ve have seen in the preceding canto. 

3 For there.] Landino has here cited, in addition to Se- 
neca and Boetius, the two following apposite passages from 
Augustine and Saint Gregory : " Nullo modo fit minor acce- 
dente consortio possessio bonitatis, quam tanto latius quanto 
concordius individua sociorum possidet caritas." Auguslin. 
de civitate Dei. " Qui facibus invidiam carere desiderat, illana 
possessionem appetat, quam numerus possidentium non an 
gustat." 



157-103 PURGATORY, Canto XV 303 

Giving as much of ardor as it finds. 
The sempiternal effluence streams abroad, 
Spreading-, wherever charity extends. 
So that the more aspirants to that bliss 
Are multiplied, more good is there to love, 
And more is loved ; as mirrors, that reflect, 
Each unto other, propagated light. 
If these my words avail not to allay 
Thy thirsting, Beatrice thou shalt see, 
Who of this want, and of all else thou hast, 
Shall rid thee to the full. Provide but thou,' 
That from thy temples may be soon erased, 
E'en as the two already, those five scars, 
That, when they pain thee worst, then kindliest hejJ." 
" Thou," I had said, " content'st me ;" when I saw 
The other round was gain'd, and wondering eyes 
Did keep me mute. There suddenly I seem'd 
By an ecstatic vision wrapt away ; 
And in a temple saw, methought, a crowd 
Of many persons ; and at the entrance stood 
A dame, 2 whose sweet demeanor did express 
A mother's love, who said, " Child ! why hast thou 
Dealt with us thus ? Behold thy sire and I 
Sorrowing have sought thee ;" and so held her peace ; 
And straight the vision fled. A female next 
Appear'd before me, down whose visage coursed 
Those waters, that grief forces out from one 
By deep resentment stung, who seem'd to say : 
" If thou, Pisistratus, be lord indeed 
Over this city, 3 named with such debate 
Of adverse gods, and whence each science sparkles, 
Avenge thee of those arms, whose bold embrace 
Hath clasp'd our daughter ;" and to her, meseem'd, 
Benign and meek, with visage undisturb'd, 
Her sovereign spake : " How shall we those requite 4 
Who wish us evil, if we thus condemn 
The man that loves us ?" After that I saw 

1 Provide hut thou.} " Take heed that thou be healed of 
the five remaining sins, as thou already art of the two, 
namely, pride and envy." 

2 A dame.] Luke, ii. 48. 

3 Over this city.] Athens, named after 'Adr/vrj, Minerva, in 
consequence of her having produced a more valuable gift for 
It in the olive, than Neptune had done in the horse. 

4 How shall we those requite.] The answer of Pisistratus 
the tyrant to his wife, when she urged him to inflict the pun- 
ishment of death on a young man, who, inflamed with love 
for his daughter, had snatched a kiss from her in public. Tho 
story is told by Valerius Maxi nus, lib v 1 



304 THE VISION. 104-143 

A multitude, in fury burning, slay 
With stones a stripling youth, 1 and shout amain 
" Destroy, destroy :"'" and him I saw, who bow'd 
Heavy with death unto the ground, yet made 
His eyes, unfolded upward, gates to heaven, 
Praying forgiveness' of the Almighty Sire, 
Amidst that cruel conflict, on his foes, 
With looks that win compassion to their aim. 

Soon as my spirit, from her airy flight 
Returning, sought again the tilings whose truth 
Depends not on her shaping, I observed 
She had not roved to falsehood in her dreams. 

Meanwhile the leader, who might see I moved 
As one who struggles to shake off his sleep, 
Exclaimed : •'•' What ails thee, that thou canst not hold 
Thy footing firm ; but more than half a league 
Hast travell'd with closed eyes and tottering gait, 
Like to a man by wine or sleep o'ercharged V 

" Beloved father! so thou deign," said I, 
" To listen, I will tell thee what appear d 
Before me, when so fail'd my sinking steps.*' 

He thus : •• Not if thy countenance were rnask'd 
With hundred vizards, could a thought of thine, 
How small soe'er, elude me. What thou saw'st 
Was shown, that freely thou mightst ope thy heart 
To the waters of peace, that flow diffused 
From their eternal fountain. I not ask'd, 
What ails thee I for such cause as he doth, who 

; only with that eye, which sees no more. 
When spiritless the body lies ; but ask'd, 
To give fresh vigor to thy foot. Such goads, 
The slow and loitering need ; that they be found 
Not wanting, when their hour of watch returns."' 

So 011 we journey'd, through the evening sky 
Gazing intent, far onward as our eyes, 
With level view, could stretch against the bright 
Vespertine ray : and lo ! by slow degrees 
Gathering, a fog made- towards us, dark as nighl 
There was no room for 'scaping ; and thai mist 
Bereft us, both of sight and the pure air 

GAXTO XVI. 

ARGUMENT. 

4s they proceed through the mist, they hear the voices of 
spirits praying. Marco Lombardo. one of these, ; 

- .i 5. ripllng youth. .] The protomartyr Stephen. 



1-40. PURGATORY, Canfo XVI. 305 

out to Dante the error of such as impute our actions to ne 
cessity : explains to him that man is endued with free will ; 
and shows that much of human depravity results from 
the undue mixture of spiritual and temporal authority in 
rulers. 

Hell's dunnest gloom, or night unlustrous. dark, 
Of every planet 'reft, and pall'd in clouds, 
Did never spread before the sight a veil 
In thickness like that fog, nor to the sense 
So palpable and gross. Entering its shade. 
Mine eye endured not with unclosed lids ; 
Which marking, near me drew the faithful gu'de, 
Offering me his shoulder for a stay. 

As the blind man behind his leader walks, 
Lest he should err, or stumble unawares 
On what might harm him or perhaps destroy ; 
I journey'd through that bitter air and foul, 
Still listening to my escort's warning voice, 
" Look that from me thou part not." Straight I hea d 
Voices, and each one seem'd to pray for peace, 
And for compassion, to the Lamb of God 
That taketh sins away. Their prelude still 
Was " Agnus Dei ;" and through all the choir, 
One voice, one measure ran, that perfect seem'd 
The concord of their song. " Are these I hear 
Spirits, O master?" I exclaim'd ; and he, 
" Thou aim'st aright : these loose the bonds of wrath " 

" Now who art thou, that through our smoke dost 
cleave, 
And speak'st of us, as thou 1 thyself e'en yet 
Dividedst time by calends ?" So one voice 
Bespake me ; whence my master said, " Reply . 
And ask, if upward hence the passage lead." 

" O being ! who dost make thee pure, to stand 
Beautiful once more in thy Maker's sight ; 
Along with me : and thou shalt hear and wonder * 
Thus I, whereto the spirit answeriig spake : 
" Long as 'tis lawful for me, shall my steps 
Follow on thine ; an d since the cloudy smoke 
Forbids the seeing, hearing in its stead 
Shall keep us join'd." I then forthwith began : 
" Yet in my mortal swathing, I ascend 
To higher regions ; and am hither come 
Thorough the fearful agony of hell. 
And, if so largely God hath doled his grace, 
That, clean beside all modern precedent, 

1 As thou.] "As if thou wert still living." 



30G THE VISION. 41-7C 

He wills me to behold his kingly st.te ; 
From me conceal not who thou wast, ere death 
Had loosed thee ; but instruct me : and instruct 
If rightly to the pass I tend ; thy words 
The way directing, as a safe escort." 

" I was of Lombardy, and Marco call'd : 2 
Not inexperienced of the world, that worth 
I still affected, from which all have turn'd 
The nerveless bow aside. Thy course tends right 
Unto the summit :" and, replying thus. 
He added, " I beseech thee pray r or me, 
When thou shalt come aloft." And I to him : 
" Accept my faith for pledge I will perform 
What thou requirest. Yet one doubt remains, 
That wrings me sorely, if I solve it not. 
Singly before it urged me, doubled now 
By thine opinion, when I couple that [other 

With one elsewhere 2 declared ; each strengthening 
The world indeed is even so forlorn 
Of all good, as thou speak'st it, and so swarms 
With every evil. Yet, beseech thee, point 
The cause out to me, that myself may see, 
And unto others show it : for in heaven 
One places it, and one on earth below." 

Then heaving forth a deep and audible sigh, 
:( Brother !" he thus began, " the world is blind , 
And thou in truth comest from it. Ye, who live, 
Do so each cause refer to heaven above, 
E'en as its motion, of necessity. 
Drew with it ail that moves. If this were so, 3 



i I icas of Lombardy. and Marco calVd.] A Venetian gen- 
tleman. "Lombardo," both was his surname, and denoted 
the country to which he belonged. G. Villani, lib. vh cap. 
120, terms him ''a wise and worthy courtier."' 

Benvenuto da Imola. says Landino. relates of him. that 
being imprisoned and not able to pay the price of his ransom, 
he applied by letter to his friend Riccardo da Camino, lord of 
Trevigi, far relief. Riccardo set on foot a contribution among 
several nobles of Lombard}- for the purpose ; of which when 
Marco was informed, he wrote back with much indignation 
to Riccardo, that he had rather die than remain under obliga- 
tions to so many benefactors. It is added that Riccardo then 
paid the whole'out of his own pur*e. Of this generous man 
I have occasion to speak again in the notes to Canto viii. 71, 
and to Par. Canto ix. 48. 

- Elsewhere.] He refers to what Guido del Duca had said 
in the fourteenth Canto, concerning the degeneracy of his 
countrymen. 

3 If this were so.] Mr. Crowe, in his Lewesdon Hill, has 
?xpressed similar sentiments with much energy 



n-96. PURGATORY, Canto XVI. 307 

Free choice in you were none ; nor justice would 
There should be joy for virtue, wo for ill. 
Your movements have their primal bent from heaven ; 
Not all : yet said I all ; what then ensues ? 
Light have ye still to follow evil or good, 
And of the will free power, which, if it stand 
Firm and unwearied in Heaven's first assay, 
Conquers at last, so it be cherish'd well, 
Triumphant over all. To might'er force, 1 
To better nature subject, ye abide 
Free, not constrain'd by that which forms in you 
The reasoning mind uninfluenced of the stars. 
If then the present race of mankind err, 
Seek in yourselves the cause, and find it there. 
Herein thou shalt confess me no false spy. [holds 
" Forth from his plastic hand, who charm'd be- 
Her image ere she yet exist, the soul 
Comes like a babe, that wantons sportively. 2 
Weeping and laughing in its wayward moods ; 
As artless, and as ignorant of aught, 



Of this be sure, 

Where freedom is not, there no virtue 'is : 

If there be none, this world is all a cheat, l 

And the divine stability of heaven 

(That assured seat for good men after death) 

Is but a transient cloud, display'd so fair 

To cherish virtuous hope, but at our need 

Eludes the sense, and fools our honest faith, 

Vanishing in a lie, &c. 

So, also, Frezzi, in his Quadriregio. 

Or sappi ben che Dio ha dato il freno 
A voi di voi ; e, se non fosse questo, 
Libero arbitrio in voi sarebbe meno. Lib. ii. cap. ... 

There is much more on this subject at the conclusion of the 
eighth Capitolo of this book. Compare also Origen. in Gene- 
sin. Patrum Graecor., vol. xi p. 14. Werceburgi, 1783, 8vo., 
and Te-tullian, Contra Marcionem, lib. ii. p. 458. Lutetiae, 
1641, foi. 

A very noble passage on the freedom of the will occurs in 
the first book De Monarchic, beginning, " Et humanum ge- 
nus, potissimum liberum, optime se habet." " The humaD 
race, when most completely free, is in its highest state of ex- 
cellence." 

1 To mightier force.] " Though ye are subject to a higher 
power than that of the heavenly constellations, even to fie 
power of the great Creator himself ; yet ye are still left in tne 
possession of liberty." 

3 Like a babe, that wantons sportively.] This reminds as of 
the Emperor Hadrian's verses to his departing soul. 
Animula vagula blanuula, &c. 



S08 THE VISION 91-115 

Save that her Maker being one who dwells 
With gladness ever, willingly she turns 
To whate'er yields her joy. Of some slight good 
The flavor soon she tastes ; and, snared by that, 
With fondness she pursues it ; if no guide 
Recall, no rein direct her wandering course. 
Hence it behooved, the law should be a curb ; 
A. sovereign hence behooved, whose piercing vicu 
Might mark at least the fortress 1 and main towei 
Of the true city. Laws indeed there are : 
But who is he observes them ? None ; not he, 
Who goes before, the shepherd of the flock, 
Who 2 chews the cud but doth not cleave the hooi, 
Therefore the multitude, who see their guide 
Strike at the very good they covet most, 
Feed there and look no further. Thus the cause 
Is not corrupted nature in yourselves, 
But ill-conducting, that hath turn'd the world 
To evil. Rome, that turn'd it unto good, 
Was wont to boast two suns, 3 whose several beams 
Cast light on either way, the world's and God's. 
One since hath quench'd the other ; and the sword 
Is grafted on the crook : and, so conjoin'd, 
Each must perforce decline to worse, unawed 
Bv fear of other. If thou doubt me, mark 



1 The fortress.] Justice, the most necessary virtue in the 
chief magistrate, as the commentators for the most part ex- 
plain it : and it appears manifest from all our Poet says in 
his first book De Monarchia, concerning the authority of the 
temporal Monarch and concerning Justice, that they are 
right. Yet Lombardi understands the law here spoken of to 
be the law of God ; the sovereign, a spiritual ruler, and the 
true city, the society of true believers ; so that the fortress. 
according to him, denotes the principal parts of Christian 
dt.ty. 

2 Who.] He compares the Pope, on account of the union 
of the temporal with the spiritual power in his person, to an 
unclean beast in the Levitical law. " The camel, because he 
cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean 
unto you." Levit. xi. 4. 

3 Two suns.] The Emperor and the JBishop of Rome 
There is something similar to this in the De Monarchic, 
lib. iii. p. 138. " They say first, according to that text in 
Genesis, that God made two great lights, the greater light 
and the lesser, the one to rule the day, and the other the 
night; then, that as the moon, which is the lesser light, has 
no brightness, except as she receives it from the sun, so 
neither has the temporal kingdom authority, except what 
It receives from the spiritual government." The fallacy 
of which reasoning (if such it can be called) he proceeds to 
\pM\ r e. 



lie-ttG, PURGATORY, Canto XVI. 309 

The blade : each herb is judged of by its seed. 
That land, 1 through which Adice and the Po 
Their waters roll, was once the residence 
Of courtesy and valor, ere the day 2 
That frown'd on Frederick ; now secure may pass 
Those limits, whosoe'er hath left, for shame, 
To talk with good men, or come near their haunt?. 
Three aged ones are still found there, in whom 
The old time 3 chides the new : these deem it long 
Ere God restore them to a better world : 
The good Gherardo ; 4 of Palazzo he, 
Conrad ; 5 and Guido of Castello, 6 named 
In Gallic phrase more fitly the plain Lombard. 
On this at last conclude. The church of Rome, 
Mixing two governments that ill assort, 
Hath miss'd her footing, fallen into the mire, 7 
And there herself and burden much defiled." 
" O Marco!" 1 replied, '"'thine arguments 
Convince me: and the cause I now discern, 
Why of the heritage no portion came 
To Levi's offspring. But resolve me this : 

i That land.] Lombardy. 

2 Ere the day.] Before the Emperor Frederick II. was de- 
feated before Parma, in 1248. G. Villani, lib. vi. cap. 35. 

3 The old time.] L'antica eta. 

It is silly sooth, 

And dallies with the innocence of love, 
Like the old age. 

Shakspcare, Twelfth Xight, act ii. sc. 4. 

4 The good Gherardo.] Gherardo di Camino, of TrevigL 
He is honorably mentioned in our Poet's Convito, p. 173. 
" Let us suppose that Gherardo da Camino had been the 
grandson of the meanest hind that ever drank of the Sile or 
the Cagnano, and that his grandfather was not yet forgotten ; 
who will dare to say that Gherardo da Camino was a mean 
man, and who will not agree with me in calling him noble? 
Certainly no one, however presumptuous, will deny this ; for 
such he was, and as such let him ever be remembered." 
Tiraboschi supposes him to have been the same Gherardo 
with whom the Provencal poets were used to meet a hospit- 
able reception. M This is probably that same Gherardo, who, 
together with his sons, so early as before the year 1254, gave 
a kind and hospitable reception to the Provencal poets." 
Mr. Mathias's edition, torn. i. p. 137. 

£> Conrad.] Currado da Palazzo, a gentleman of Brescia. 

6 Guido of Castello.] Of Reggio. All the Italians were 
called Lombards by the French. 

7 Fallen into the mire.] There is a passage resembling this 
in the De Vulg. Eloq., lib. ii. cap. 4. " Ante omnia ergo 
dicimns unumqiiemque debere materia? pondus propriis hu 
mens excipere aequale, ne forte humerorum nimio gravatani 
virt* item in csenum cespitare necesse iit." 



310 THE VISION. 137-141 

Who that Gherardo is. that as vhou sayst 
Is left a sample of the perislrd race, 
And for rebuke to this untoward age V 

" Either thy words." said he. " deceive, or else 
Are meant to by me ; that thou, speaking Tuscan, 
Appear'st not to have heard of good Gherardo ; 
The sole addition that, by which I know him ; 
Unless I borrow'd from his daughter Gala 1 
Another name to grace him. God be with yon. 
I bear you company no more. Behold [mist 

The dawn with white ray glimmering through the 
I must away — the angel comes — ere he 
Appear.'' He said, and would not hear me more. 



CANTO XVII. 



ARGUMENT. 
The Poet issues from that thick vapor; and soon after his 
fancy represents to him in Lively portraiture some noted 
examples of anger. This imagination is dissipated by the 
appearance of an angel, who marshals them onward to the 
fourth cornice, on which the sin of gloominess or indiffer- 
ence is purged; and here Virgil shows him that this lice 
proceeds from a defect of love, and that all love can be 
only of two sorts, either natural, or of the soul ; of which 
sorts the former is always right, but the latter may err 
either in respect of object* or of degree. 

Call to remembrance, reader, if thou e'er 
Hast on an Alpine height 2 been ta'en by cloud, 

1 His daughter Ga'ia.] A lady equally admired for her 
modesty, the beauty of her person, and the excellency of her 
talents. Ga'ia. says Tiraboschi. may perhaps lay claim to the 
praise of having been the first among the Italian ladies, by 
whom the vernacular poetry was cultivated. This appears 
(although no one has yet named her as a poetess) from the 
MS. Commentary on the Commedia of Dante, by Giovanni 
da Serravalle, afterwards bishop of Fermo, where, comment- 
ing on Canto xvi. of the Purgatory, he says : f De ista Gaja 
f.Iia dicti boni Gerardi, possent dici multse laudes. quia fait 
prudens domina. literata. magni consilii, et magnae prudentise, 
maxims pulchritudinis, quae scivit bene 'oqui rhytmal 
tralgari n 

2 On an Alpine height.'] " Nell 1 alpe." Although the Alps, 
as Landino remarks, are properly those mountains which 
divide Italy from France, yet from them all high mountains 
are in the Tuscan language, though not in the Latin, termed 
Alps. Milton uses the word thus generally in the Samson 
Agonistes : 

Nor breath of vernal air from snowy Alp. 
\nd this is a sufficient answer to the charge of 
tfhich is brought by Doctor Johnson, on the introduction ofil 
into that drama. See the Rambler, Xo. 110. 



3-24. PURGATORY, Canto XVII. 31 1 

Through which thou saw'st no better than the mole 

Doth through opacous membrane ; then, whene'er 

The watery vapors dense began to melt 

Into thin air, how faintly the sun's sphere 

Seem'd wading through them : so thy nimble thought 

31 ay image, how at first I rebeheld 

The sun, that bedward now his couch o'erhung. 

Thus, with my leader's feet still equalling pace, 
From forth that cloud I came, when now expired 
The parting beams from off the nether shores. 

O quick and forgetive power ! that sometimes dost 
So rob us of ourselves, we take no mark 
Though round about us thousand trumpets clang ; 
What moves thee, if the senses stir not ? Light 
Moves thee from heaven, spontaneous, self-inform'd ; 
Or, likelier,' gliding down with swift illapse 
By will divine. Portray'd before me came 
The traces of her dire impiety, 
Whose form was changed into the bird, that most 
Delights itself in song: 1 and here my mind 
Was inwardly so wrapt, it gave no place 
To aught that ask'd admittance from without. 



The bird, that most 



Delights itself in song.] I cannot think with Yellutello, 
that the swallow is here meant. Dante probably alludes to 
the story of Philomela, as it is found in Homer's Odyssey, 
b. xix. oi8, rather than as later poets have told it. " Sue in- 
tended to slay the son of her husband's brother Amphion, 
incited to it by the envy of his wife, who had six children, 
while herself had only two, but through mistake slew her 
own son Itylus, and for her punishment was transformed by 
Jupiter into a nightingale." Cowper's note on this passage. 
In speaking of the nightingale, let me observe, that while 
some have considered its song as a melancholy, and others 
as a cheerful one, Chiabrera appears to have come nearest 
the truth, when he says, in the Alcippo, act i. sc. 1. 
Non mai si stanca d'iterar le note, 
O gioconde o dogliose, 
Al sentir dilettose. 
Unwearied still reiterates her lays, 
Jocund and sad, delightful to the ear. 
See a very pleasing letter on this subject by a lale illus- 
trious statesman. Jlddress to the reader prefixed to Fox's His- 
tory of James II, Edit. 1808, p. xii. ; and a beautiful poem by 
Mr. Coleridge. I know not whether the following lines by 
neglected poet have yet been noticed, as showing the diver- 
rity of opinions that'have prevailed respecting the song of 
3his bird. 

The cheerful birds 

With sweetest notes to sing their Maker's praise, 
Among the which, the merrie nightingale 
With swete and swete, her breast against a tl orn, 
Hinges out all night. Vallans, Tale of Two Swannes 



S12 THE VISION. 2*-» 

Next shower'd into my fantasy a shape 
As of one crucified. 1 whose visage spake 
Fell rancor, malice deep., wherein he died : 
And round him Ahasuerus the great king : 
Esther his bride ; and Mordecai the just. 
Blameless in word and deed. As of itself 
That unsubstantial coinage of the brain 
Burst, like a bubble, 2 when the water fails 
That fed it : in my vision straight uprose 
A damsel 3 weeping loud, and cried. " O quern ! 

mother ! wherefore has intemperate ire 
Driven thee to loathe thy beinsf \ 2s ot to lose 
Lavinia. desperate thou hast slain thyself. 
Now hast thou lost me. I am she. whose tears 
Mourn, ere I fall, a mother's tuneless end." 

E'en as a sleep breaks off. if suddenly 
New radiance strike upon the closed lids. 
The broken slumber quivering ere it dies ;* 
Thus, from before me, sunk that imagery, 
Vanishing, soon as on my face there struck 
The light, outshining far our earthly beam. 
As round I turn'd me to survey what place 

1 had arrived at, " Here ye mount :' ; exclaim'd 
A voice, that other purpose left me none 
Save will so eager to behold who spake, 

I could not choose but gaze. As 'lore the sun. 
That weighs our vision down, and veils his form 
In light transcendent, thus my virtue fail'd 
Unequal. " This is Spirit from above. 
Who marshals us our upward way, unsought : 
And in his own light shrouds him. As a man 
Doth for himself, so now is done for us. 

2 One crucified.] Haman. See the book of Esther, r. vii 
'•In the Lunetta of Hainan, we owe the sublime con: 

of his figure (by Michael Angelo} 'to this passage." Fuseii, 
jAdure hi. note, 
a Like a bubble.] 

The earth hath hubbies, as the water has. 
And these are of them. 

Shakspeare, Matbeth, act i. sc. iii. 

3 A damsel.] Lavinia. mourning for her mother .^mata 
who. impelled by grief and indignation for the supposed 
death of Turnus." destroyed herself. JEn., lib. xii. 595. 

4 The broken slumber quivering ere it dies.] Venturi sug- 
gests that this bold and unusual metaphor may have been 
formed on that in Virgil. 

Tempus erat quo prima quies mortalibus segris 
Incipit, et dono divum gratissima serpit. 

3£n.. lib. ii. 26* 



57-93. PURGATORY, Canto XVII. SIS 

For whoso waits imploring, yet sees need 

Of his prompt aidance, sets himself prepared 

For blunt denial, ere the suit be made. 

Refuse we not to lend a ready foot 

At such inviting : haste we to ascend, 

Before it darken : for we may not then, 

Till morn again return." So spake my guide : 

And to one ladder both address'd our steps ; 

And the first stair approaching, I perceived 

N"ear me as 't were the waving of a wing, 

That fann'd my face, and whisper'd : " Blessed theyj 

The peace -makers i 1 they know not evil wrath." 

Now to such height above our heads were raised 
The last beams, follow'd close by hooded night, 
That many a star on all sides through the gloom 
Shone out. " Why partest from me, O my strength ?" 
So with myself I communed ; for I felt 
My o'ertoil'd sinews slacken. We had reach'd 
The summit, and were fix'd like to a bark 
Arrived at land. And waiting a short space, 
[f aught should meet mine ear in that new round, 
Then to my guide I turn'd, and said : " Loved sire ! 
Declare what guilt is on this circle purged. 
If our feet rest, no need thy speech should pause." 

He thus to me : " The love 2 of good, whate'er 
Wanted of just proportion, here fulfils. 
Here plies afresh the oar, that loiter' d ill. 
But that thou mayst yet clearlier understand, 
Give ear unto my words ; and thou shalt cull 
Some fruit may please thee well, from this delay. 

" Creator, nor created being, e'er, 
My son," he thus began, " was without love, 
Or natural, 3 or the free spirit's growth. 
Thou hast not that to learn. The natural still 
Is without error : but the other swerves, 
If on ill object bent, or through excess 
Of vigor, or defect. While e'er it seeks 4 

1 The peace-makers.] " Blessed are the peace-makers, fol 
they shall be called the children of God." Matt., v. 9. 

2 The love.] "A defect in our love towards God, or luke- 
tvarmness in piety, is here removed." 

3 Or natural.] Lombardi refers to the Convito, Canz. i 
Tratt. 2, cap. 3, where this subject hi diffusely treated by oiu 
Poet. 

4 While e'er it seeks.] So Frezzi : 

E s'egli e ben, che d'altro ben dipenda, 
Non s'ami quasi per se esistente, 
Se vuoi, che quando e tolto, non foffenda. 

__ « Quadrir.. lib H. cap. 14 



314 THE VISION. 94-lfci 

The primal blessings/ or with measare due 

The inferior, 2 no delight* , that flows from it, 

Partakes of ill. But let it warp to evil, 

Or with more ardor than behooves, or less, 

Pursue the good : the thing created then 

Works 'gainst its Maker, Hence thou must infer, 

That love is germin of each virtue in ye, 

And of each act no less, that merits pain. 

Now 3 since it may not be, but love intend 

The welfare mainly of the thing it loves, 

All from self-hatred are secure ; and since 

No being can be thought to exist apart, 

And independent of the first, a bar 

Of equal force restrains from hating that. 

" Grant the distinction just ; and it remains 
The evil must be another's, which is loved. 
Three ways such love is gender'd in your clay. 
There is 4 who hopes (his neighbor's worth depreartiji 
Pre-eminence himself ; and covets hence, 
For his own greatness, that another fall. 
There is 5 who so much fears the loss of power, 
Fame, favor, glory, (should his fellow mount 
Above him,) and so sickens at the thought, 
He loves their opposite : and there is he, 6 
Whom wrong or insult seems to gall and shame, 
That he doth thirst for vengeance ; and such needs 
Must doat on other's evil. Here beneath, 
This threefold love is mourn'd. 7 Of the other sort 
Be now instructed ; that which follows good, 
But with disorder'd and irregular course. 

" All indistinctly apprehend a bliss, 



This Capitolo, which describes the punishment of those 
who give way to inordinate grief for the loss of their kindred, 
Js marked by much power of imagination and a sublime 
morality. 

1 The primal blessings.] Spiritual good. 

2 The inferior.] Temporal good. 

3 Now] "It is impossible for any being, either to hat* 
itself, or to hate the First Cause of all, by which it exists. 
We can theitefore only rejoice in the evil which tefalls others." 

4 There is.] The proud. 

5 There is.] The envious. 

G There is he ] The resentful. 

* This threefold love is mourn' d.] Frezzi alludes to this 
distinction. 

Superbia puote essere in tre modi ; 
Si come si dimostra dalla Musa, 
La qual hai letta, e che tu tanto lodi . 

II Quadrir. x 1U>. iil. cap. * 



125-137. PURGATORY, Canto XVIII 315 

On which the soul may rest ; the hearts of all 
Yearn after it ; and to that wished bourn 
All therefore strive to tend. If ye behold, 
Or seek it, with a love remiss and lax ; 
This cornice, after just repenting, lays 
Its penal torment on ye. Other good 
There is, where man finds not his happiness : 
It is not true fruition ; not that blest 
Essence, of every good the branch and root. 
The love too lavishly bestow'd on this, 
Along three circles 1 over us, is mourn'd. 
Account of that division tripartite 
Expect not, fitter for thine own research.''* 



CANTO XVIII. 

ARGUMENT. 

Virgil discourses further concerning the nature of love. Then 
a multitude of spirits rush by ; two of whom in van of the 
rest, record instances of zeal and fervent affection, and 
another who was abbot of San Zeno in Verona, declares 
himself to Virgil and Dante ; and lastly follow other spirits, 
shouting forth memorable examples of the sin for which 
they suffer. The Poet, pursuing his meditations, falls into 
a dreamy slumber. 

The teacher ended, 2 and his high discourse 
Concluding, earnest in my looks inquired 
If I appear'd content ; and I, whom still 
Unsated thirst to hear him urged, was mute, 
Mute outwardly, yet inwardly I said : 
i; Perchance my too much questioning offends." 
But he, true father, mark'd the secret wish 
By diffidence restrain'd ; and, speaking, gave 

1 Along three circles.] According to the allegorical com- 
mentators, as Venturi has observed, Reason is represented 
under the person of Virgil, and Sense under that of Dante. 
The former leaves to the latter to discover for itself the three 
carnal sins — avarice, gluttony, and libidinousness ; having 
already declared the nature of the spiritual sins — pride, envy. 
anger, and indifference, or lukewarmness in piety, Tvhich 
the Italians call accidia, from trfe Greek word axtjlia, and 
which Chaucer vainly endeavored to naturalize in our lan- 
guage. See the Persone's Tale. Lombardi refers to Thomas 
Aquinas, li'j. i., Quest. 72, Art. 2, for the division here made 
by our Poet. 

2 The teacher ended.] Compare Plato, Protagoras, v. iii. p 
123, Bip. edit.. IJowTayopas fxh roaavra k.t.\. A poll. Rho-.K 
I i. 513, and Milton, P. L., b. viii. 1. 

The angel ended, and in Adam's ear 

So charming left his voice, that he awhile 

Thought him still speaking, still stood fix'd to hear 



516 THE VISION <KH 

Me boldness thus to speak : " Master . :ny iight 
Gathers so lively virtue from thy beams, 
That all, thy words convey, distinct is seen. 
Wherefore I pray thee, father, whom this heart 
Holds dearest, thou wouldst deign by proof t' unfold 
That love, from which, as from their source, thou 

bring'st 
All good deeds and their opposite." He then : 
" To what. I now disclose be thy clear ken 
Directed ; and thou plainly shalt behold [selves 

How much those blind have err'd, who make them- 
The guides of men. The soul, created apt 
To love, moves versatile which way soe'er 
Aught pleasing prompts her, soon as she is waked 
By pleasure into act. Of substance true 
Your apprehension 1 forms its counterfeit ; 
And, in you the ideal shape presenting, 
Attracts the soul's regard. If she, thus drawn, 
Incline toward it ; love is that inclining, 
And a new nature knit by pleasure in ye. 
Then, as the fire points up, and mounting seeks 
His birthplace and his lasting seat, e'en thus 
Enters the captive soul into desire, 
Which is a spiritual motion, that ne'er rests 
Before enjoyment of the thing it loves. 
Enough to show thee, how the truth from those 
Is hidden, who aver all love a thing 
Praiseworthy in itself ; although perhaps 2 



1 Your apprehension. J It is literally, " Your apprehensh e 
faculty derives intension from a thing really existing, and 
displays that intension within yon, so that it makes the soul 
turn to it." The commentators labor in explaining this ; but 
whatever sense they have elicited, may, I think, be resolved 
into the words of the translation in the text. 

2 Perhaps.} " Our author," Venturi observes, " uses the 
language of the Peripatetics, which denominates the kind of 
thir.gs, as determinable by many differences, matter. Love, 
then, in kind, perhaps, appears good ; and it is said perhaps, 
because, strictly speaking, in kind there is neither good noi 
bad. neither praiseworthy .nor blameable." To this, Lom 
\>ardi adds, that what immediately follows, namely, that 

every mark is not good although the wax be so," answers 
to this interpretation. For the wax is precisely as the deter- 
minable matter, and the mark or impression as the deter- 
mining form ; and even as the wax, which is either good or 
at least not bad, may, by being imprinted by a bad figura, 
acquire the name of bad ; so may love be said generally to 
oe good or at least not bad, and acquire the name of bad by 
oeing determined to an unfit object. " As the wax takes al! 
shapes, and yet is wax still at the bottom ; the rd uiroitef 



3fr-6& PURGATORY, Canto XVIII. 317 

Its matter seem still good. Yet if the wax 
Be good, it follows not the impression must." 

" What love is," I return'd, " thy words, O guide ! 
And my own docile mind, reveal. Yet thence 
New doubts have sprung. For, from without, if lovo 
Be offer d to us, and the spirit knows 
No other footing ; tend she right or wrong, 
Is no desert of hers." He answering thus : 
" What reason here discovers, I have power 
To show thee : that which lies beyond, expect 
From Beatrice, faith not reason's task. 
Spirit, 1 substantial form, with matter join'd, 
Not in confusion mix'd, hath in itself 
Specific virtue of that union born, 
Which is not felt except it work, nor proved 
But through effect, as vegetable life 
By the green leaf. From whence his intellect 
Deduced its primal notices of things, 
Man therefore knows not, or his appetites 
Their first affections ; such in you, as zeal 
In bees to gather honey ; at the first. 
Volition, meriting nor blame nor praise. 
But o'er each lower faculty supreme, 
That, as she list, are summon'd to her bar, 
Ye have that virtue 2 in you, whose just voice 
Uttereth counsel, and whose word should keep 
The threshold of assent. Here is the source, 
Whence cause of merit in you is derived ; 
E'en as the affections, good or ill, she takes, 
Or severs, 3 winnow'd as the chaff. Those men, 1 

fievov still is wax ; so the soul transported in so many several 
passions of joy, fear, hope, sorrow, anger, and the like, has 
for its general groundwork of all this, Love." Henry More, 
Discourse xvi. This passage in the most philosophical of 
our theologians, may serve for an answer to the objection of 
those who blame Collins for not having brought in Love 
among the " Passions'' in his exquisite ode. 

1 Spirit.] The human soul, which differs from that of brutes, 
Inasmuch as though united with the body it has a separate 
existence of its own. 

•■* TJiat virtue.] Reason. 

3 Or severs.] Le^t the reader of the original should be mis- 
led, it is right to warn him that the word ' ; vigliare" must not 
be confounded with " vagliare" to winnow, and strictly means 
" to separate from the straw what remains of the grain after 
the threshing." The process is distinctly described in the 
notes on the Decameron, p. 77, Ediz. Giunti, 15"T3, where this 
passage is referred to. 

♦ Those men.] The great moral philosophers among the 
neathens. 



3 IS THE VISION. Cd-g^ 

Who. reasoning, went to : Lark'a 

Ha m : and were thence induced 

To leave their morai teaching to the world. 

Grant :h>n, that from necessity arise 

All love that h.ows within you : to dismiss 

Or harboi it, the powei is in yourselves. 

Remember, Beatrice, in hei style. 

Denominates free choice by eminence 

Tne noble virtue : i: in talk with thee 

She touch upon that theme. v Tire moon, well nigh 

To midnight hour belated, made the stars 

Appeal to wink and fade ; and her broad disk 

When they o: R : e m at his set 

Betwixt Sard nia :.u: the Cc isle 

And now the weight, that hung upon my thong] it, 

Was lighten'd hy the aid of that deal spirit, 

Who raieeth Anurs : above Mantua's name. 

I therefore, when my questions had obtain'd 

LtMtn plain and ample, stood as one 
hlusih^ in creamy slumber ; but not long 
Slumber'd : for suddenly ;-. multitude. 
The s: a 3p already turning from behind, 
Rusli'd on. Vr;:h :ury :-.::.■! like rand.vm rout. 
As echoing ::. then shores at midnight heard 
Ismenus and Asopush for his Thebes 
If Bacchus 1 help were needed : bo came these 
Tumultuous, curving each his rapid step, 

- .£ :-ag.] I have preferred the reading of Landino, sekeg- 
: rag,* 1 . . : e i v i ■ g it to be more poetical than seceJuom, 
:.':'. is : be couunon reading. The same cause, 
the vapors, which the commentators say might give the ap- 
pearance of increased magnitude to the moon, might also 
make her seem broken at her rise. Lombardi explains it dif- 
ferently. The moon being, as he says, in the fifth night of 
her wane, has exactly the figure of abrazen backet, round at 
the bottom and open at top ; and, if we suppose it to be 
all on fire, we shall h esides the form of the moon, her 
color also. There is a simile in one of Fielding's nove- 
like this, but so ludicrous that I am unwilling to disturb tie 
reader's gravity by inserting it. 
* Up the vatdt.l The moon passed with*a motion opposite 
that of the heavens, through the constellation of the Seor- 
;-:-. h v.-'r. ■-:::: :':: : S: \v"r. :■ :-.re h. K ■:■:.■: he 
ua : sel betwsc n the isles of Corsica and Sardinia. 
1 j&*dcs.\ Andes, now Pietola, made more famous thai 
is 5 itua ted, by having been the birth- 
place of Virgil. 
4 Iinurus .:.:1 Jsi'vus.'. Rivers near Thebes, 



5»-128. PURGATORY , Canto X V [1 [. 3 J 9 

By eagerness impell'd of holy love. 

Soon they o'ertook us ; with such swiftness movet* 
The mighty crowd. Two spirits at their head 
Cried, weeping, " Blessed Mary 1 sought with haste 
The hilly region. Caesar, 2 to subdue 
Ilerda, darted in Marseilles his sting, 
And flew to Spain." — " Oh, tarry not : away !" 
The others shouted ; "let not time be lost 
Through slackness of affection. Hearty zeal 
To serve reanimates celestial grace." 

:: O ye ! in whom intenser fervency 
Haply supplies, where lukewarm erst ye faiPd, 
Slow or neglectful, to absolve your part 
Of good and virtuous ; this man, who yet lives, 
(Credit my tale, though strange) desires to asceiut 
So morning rise to light us. Therefore say 
Which hand leads nearest to the rifted rock." 

So spake my guide ; to whom a shade return'c : 
'*' Come after us, and thou shalt find the cleft. 
We may not linger: such resistless will 
Speeds our unwearied course. Vouchsafe us then 
Thy pardon, if our duty seem to thee 
Discourteous rudeness. In Verona I 
Was abbot 3 of San Zeno, when the hand 
Of Barbarossa grasp'd Imperial sway, 
That name ne'er utter'd without tears in Milan. 
And there is he, 4 hath one foot in his grave, 
Who for that monastery ere long shall weep, 
Ruing his power misused : for that his son, 
Of body ill compact, and worse in mind, 
And born in evil, he hath set in place 
Of its true pastor." Whether more he spake, 
Or here was mute, I know not : he had sped 
E'en now so far beyond us. Yet thus much 



1 Mary.] " And Mary arose in those days, and went into 
the hill-country with haste, into a city of Juda ; and en- 
tered into the house of Zacharia s, and saluted Elisabeth." 
Luke, i. 39, 40. 

2 Casar.] See Lucan, Phars., lib. iii. and iv., and Caesar de 
Bello Civili, lib. i. Caesar left Brutus to complete the siege 
of Marseilles, and hastened on to the attack of Afranius 
and Petreius, the generals of Pompey, at Ilerda (Lerida) in 
Spain. 

3 Abbot.] Alberto, abbot of San Zeno in Verona, when 
Frederick I. was emperor, by whom Milan was besieged and 
reduced to ashes, in 1162. 

4 There is he.] Alberto della Scala, Lord of Verona, who 
had made his natural son abbot of San Zeno 



320 THE VISION L3*M 

I heard, and in remembrance treasured it. 

He then, who never fail'd me at ray need, 
Cried. •• Hither torn Lo '. two with sharp remors* 
Chiding their sin.'" In rear of 

These shouted: " First they died. : to whom the aaa 
Open'd. or ever Jordan saw his heirs : 
And they.'- who with -Eneas to the end 
Endured not suffering, for their portion chose 
life without glory.* 5 Soon as they had tied 
Fast reach of sight, new thought within me ross 
By others follow'd fast, and each nnlike 
Its fellow : till led on from thought to thought. 
And pleasured with the tie e ting train, mine eye 
Was closed] and meditation changed to dream 



CANTO XIX 

ARGUMENT. 

The Foe:, after describing his dream, relate he sum 

mowing of an an.: pi fcc the fifth ear 

is .ere he 
finds Pope Adrian the Fifth. 

It was the hour/ when of diurnal heat 
Xo reliques chafe the cold beams of the moon. 
O'erpower'd by earth,, or planetary sv 
Of Saturn : and the geomancer 4 
His Greater Fortune up the east ascend, 
Where gray dawn checkers fast the cone; 

When, 'fore me in my dream, a woman's shape 5 

1 Hrst tney died.] The Israelites. « . ' thell 

disobedience, died before reaching the promised land. 

> jgtmdtkaf.] Those Trojans, who. weal i :.•; vor 

age, chose rather to remain in Sicily with Acestes. than a'c 

company -Eneas to Italy, r _ .£ Ufa v. 

3 The hour.] .Near the d 

4 The geoma ncer.] The <ieom a n c e r s . says £ a 1 1 o i i . . w I e ■ 
they divined, drew a figure consisting of sixteen marks, named 
from so many stars which ;onstitute the end of Aquarius and 
the beginning of Pisces. One of these 

greater fortune." Chance tated this in a descri 

of morning. Troiius andCreselde, b. in.) for he did not find 

it in his original, Boccaccio's Filostrata : — 

But when the cocke. commune astrologer, 
Gan on his hrest to bete, and after crowe, 
And Lucifer the dayis messangei 
Gan for to rise, andout his bemis throw?. 
And estward rose, to him that conic 
Fortnna Major. 
• A woman? s s-hapc] Worldly happiness. Tina allcgnr. 

inroads us of the "Choice of Hercules." 



2-37. PURGATORY, Canto XIX 321 

There carne. with lips that stammerd, eyes aslant, 
Distorted feet, hands maim'd, and color pale 

I look'd upon her : and, as sunshine cheers 
Limbs numb'd by nightly cold, e'en thus my look 
Unloosed her tongue ; next, hi brief space, her form 
Decrepit raised erect, and faded face 
With love's own hue 1 illumed Recovering speech, 
She forthwith, warbling, such a strain began, 
That I, how loth soe'er, could scarce have held 
Attention from the song. " I," thus she sang, 
"lam the Syren, she, whom mariners 
On the wide sea are wilder'd when they hear : 
Such fulness of delight the listener feels. 
I, from his course, Ulysses 2 by my lay 
Enchanted drew. Whoe'er frequents me once, 
Parts seldom : so I charm him, and his heart 
Contented knows no void." Or ere her mouth 
Was closed, to shame her, at my side appear'd 
A dame 3 of semblance holy. With stern voice 
She utter'd : " Say, O Virgil ! who is this ?" 
Which hearing, he approach'd, with eyes still bent 
Toward that goodly presence : the other seized her, 
And, her robes tearing, open'd her before, 
And show'd the belly to me, whence a smell, 
Exhaling loathsome, waked me. Roimd I turnd 
Mine eyes: and thus the teacher: " At the least 
Three times my voice hath call'd thee. Rise, begone. 
Let us the opening find where thou mayst pass." 

I straightway rose. Now day, pour'd down from 
Fill'd all the circuits of the sacred mount ; [high, 



1 Love's own hue.] 

A smile that glow'd 

Celestial rosy red, love's proper hue. 

.Milton, P. L., b. viiL C19. 

facies pulcherrima tunc est, 

Q.uum porphyriaco variatur Candida rubro. 
Quid color hie roseus sibi vult 1 designat amorem : 
Quippe amor est igni similis ; flammasque nibentes 
Ignis habere solet. 

Palingenii Zodiacus Vita, lib. xii. 
Ulysses.'] It is not easy to determine why Ulysses, con- 
trary to the authority of Homer, is said to have been drawn 
aside from his course by the song of the Syren. No improba 
ble way of accounting for the contradiction is, to suppose that 
she is here represented as purposely deviating from the truth. 
Or Dante may have followed some legend of the middle ages, 
In which the wanderings of Ulysses were represeuted other- 
wise than in Homer. 
3 A dame.] Philosophy, or perhaps Truth 



322 THE VISION. 38-6f 

And as we journey'd, on our shoulder smote 

The early ray. I follow'd, stooping low 

My forehead, as a man, o'ercharged with thougnt 

Who bends him to the likeness of an arch 

That midway spans the flood ; when thus I heard, 

" Come, enter here," in tone so soft and mild, 

As never met the ear on mortal strand. 

With swan-like wings dispread and pointing up, 
Who thus had spoken marshall'd us along, 
Where, each side of the solid masonry, 
The sloping walls retired ; then moved his plumes, 
And fanning us, affirm'd that those, who mourn, 1 
Are blessed, for that comfort shall be theirs. 

" What aileth thee, that still thou look'st to earth r * 
Began my leader ; while the angelic shape 
A little over us his station took. 

" New vision," I replied, " hath raised in me 
Surmisings strange and anxious doubts, whereon 
My soul intent allows no other thought 
Or room, or entrance." — " Hast thou seen," said he, 
%i That old enchantress, her, whose wiles alone 
The spirits o'er us weep for ? Hast thou seen 
How man may free him of her bonds ? Enough. 
Let thy heels spurn the earth ; 2 and thy raised ken 
Fix on the lure, which heaven's eternal King 
Whirls in the rolling spheres." As on his feet 
The falcon 3 first looks down, then to the sky 
Turns, and forth stretches eager for the food, 
That woos him thither ; so the call I heard : 
So onward, far as the dividing rock 
Gave way, I journey'd, till the plain was reach'd. 

i Who mourn.] " Blessed are they that mourn ; for they 
«hall he comforted." Mitt. v. a. 

2 Let thy heels spurn the earth.'] This is a metaphor from 
hawking, though less ap[; irent than in the lines that follow. 

3 The falcon.] 

Foi come fa '1 falcon, quando si move, 
Cosi Umilta al cielo alzb la vista. 

Frezzi, II Quadrir., lib. iv. cap. v 
lo vidi poi color tutti levare 
Inverso il cielo, come fa '1 falconc, 
Quando la preda sua prende in su Tare. 

Ibid., cap. xili. 
One of our periodical critics has remarked, that Dante must 
have loved hawking ; and ' that he paints his bird always to 
the life." Edinburgh Review, No. lviii. p. 472. In the same 
manner Mr. Blomfield supposes that iEschylus was addicted 
to fishing, because he often takes his metaphors from fishing 
uets. See that gentleman's notes to the Persse. Glossar., v.43Qt 



69-105. PURGATORY, Canto XIX. 32iJ 

On the fifth circle when I stood at large, 
A race appear'd before me, on the ground 
All downward lying prone and weeping sore. 
11 My soul 1 hath cleaved to the dust," I heard 
With sighs so deep, they well-nigh choked the wonld 

u O ye elect of God ! whose penal woes 
Both hope and justice mitigate, direct 
Towards the steep rising our uncertain way." 

" If ye approach secure from this our doom, 
Prostration, and would urge your course with speed, 
See that ye still to rightward keep the brink." 

So them the bard besought ; and such the words, 
Beyond us some short space, in answer came. 

I noted what remain'd yet hidden from them : 2 
Thence to my liege's eyes mine eyes I bent, 
And he, forthwith interpreting their suit, 
Beckon'd his glad assent. Free then to act 
As pleased me, I drew near, and took my stand 
Over that shade whose words I late had mark'd. 
And, " Spirit !" I said, " in whom repentant tears 
Mature that blessed hour when thou with God 
Shalt find acceptance, for a while suspend 
For me that mightier care. Say who thou wast , 
Why thus ye grovel on your bellies prone ; 
And if, in aught, ye wish my service there, 
Whence living I am come." He answering spake: 
" The cause why Heaven our back toward his cope 
Reverses, shalt thou know : but me know first, 
The successor of Peter, 3 and the name 
And title of my lineage, from that stream 4 
That 'twixt Chiaveri and Siestri draws 
His limpid waters through the lowly glen. 
A month and little more by proof I learn'd 
With what a weight that robe of sovereignty 
Upon his shoulder rests, who from the mire 
Would guard it ; that each other fardel seems 
But feathers in the balance. Late, alas ! 

1 Jlfy soul.] " My soil cleave th to the dust : quicken thou 
me according to thy word." Psalm cxix. 25. 

2 I noted what remain'd yet hidden from them.] They were 
Ignorant, it appeared, whether Dante was come there to be 
purged of his sins. 

3 The successor of Peter.] Ottobuono, of the family of Fi 
eschi, Counts of Lavagno, died thirty-nine days after he bo^ 
came pope, with the title of Adrian V., in 1276. 

4 That stream.] The river Lavagno, in the Genoese terri- 
tory; to the east oi which territory are situated Siestri and 
Chiaveri. 



324 THE VISION. 106-3 3* 

Was my conversion : but, when I became 

Rome's pastor, I discern'd at once the dream 

And cozenage of life ; saw that the heart 

Rested not there, and yet no prouder height 

Lured on the climber : wherefore, of that life 

No more enamor'd, in my bosom love 

Of purer being kindled. For till then 

I was a soul in misery, alienate 

From God, and covetous of all earthly tilings ; 

Now, as thou seest, here punish'd for my doting. 

Such cleansing from the taint of avarice, 

Do spirits, converted, need. This mount inflicts 

No direr penalty. E'en as our eyes 

Fasten'd below, nor e'er to loftier clime 

Were lifted ; a thus hath justice levell'd us, 

Here on the earth. As avarice quench'd our love 

Of good, without which is no working ; thus 

Here justice holds us prison'd, hand and foot 

Chain'd down and bound, while heaven's just Lo:c 

shall please, 
So long to tarry, motionless, outstretch'd." 

My knees I stoop'd, and would have spoke ; but he 1 
Ere my beginning, by his ear perceived 
I did him reverence ; and " What cause," said he, 
"Hath bow'd thee thus?" — "Compunction," I re« 
" And inward awe of your high dignity." [join'd t 

'" Up," he exclaim'd, "brother! upon thy feet 
Arise ; err not : 2 thy fellow-servant I, 
(Thine and all others') of one Sovereign Power. 
If thou hast ever mark'd those holy sounds 
Of gospel truth, { nor shall be given in marriage,' 3 
Thou mayst discern the reasons of my speech. 
Go thy ways now ; and linger here no more. 
Thy tarrying is a let unto the tears, 
With which I hasten that whereof thou spakest. 4 



1 Were lifted.'] Rosa Morando and Lombardi are very s&- 
vere on Venturi's perplexity occasioned by the word " aderse." 
They have none of them noticed Landino's reading of 
" aperse." Ediz. 1484. 

2 Err not.] " And I feU at Ids feet to worship him. And 
ne said unto me, See thou do it not : I am thy fellow-servant 
and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus." Rev 
xix. 10. 

3 Nor shall be given in marriage.] " Since in this state we 
neither marry nor are given in marriage, I am no longer the 
spouse of the church, and therefor© no longer retain my for 
liier dignity." See Matt., xxii. 30. 

4 That whereof thou spakest.] See v. SBk> 



140-143 PURGATORY, Canto XX 325 

I have on earth a kinswoman ;* her name 
Alagia, worthy in herself, so ill 
Example of our house corrupt her not : 
And she is all remaineth of me there." 



C A IN T O XX. 

ARGUMENT. 

Among those on the fifth cornice, Hugh Capet records illus- 
trious examples of voluntary poverty a;id of bounty ; thou 
tells who himself is, and speaks of his descendants on the 
French throne ; and, lastly, adds some noted instances of 
avarice. When he has ended, the mountain shakes, and 
all tne spirits sing " Glory to God." 

Ill strives the will, 'gainst will more wise that strives ; 
His pleasure therefore to mine own preferr'd, 
I drew the sponge 2 yet thirsty from the wave. 

Onward I moved : he also onward moved, 
Who led me, coasting still, wherever place 
Along the rock was vacant ; as a man 
Walks near the battlements on narrow wall. 
For those on the other part, who drop by drop 
Wring out their all-infecting malady, 
Too closely press the verge. Accursed be thou, 
Inveterate wolf ! 3 whos»e gorge ingluts more prey ; 
Than every beast beside, yet is not fill'd ; 
So bottomless thy maw. — Ye spheres of heaven ! 
To whom there are, as seems, who attribute 
All change in mortal state, when is the day 
Of his appearing, 4 for whom fate reserves 
To chase her hence ? — With wary steps and slow 
We pass'd ; and I attentive to the shades, 
Whom piteously I heard lament and wail ; 
And, 'midst the wailing, one before us heard 
Cry out " O blessed Virgin !" as a dame 
In the sharp pangs of childbed ; and " How poor 
Thou wast," it added, " witness that low roof 
Where thou didst lay thy sacred burden down. 
O good Fabricius ! 5 thou didst virtue choose 

1 A kinswoman.] Alagia is said to have been the wife oi 
the Marchese Marcello Malaspina, one of the Poet's protectors 
during his exile See Canto viii. 133. 

* 2 / drew the sponge.] ' ; I did not persevere in my inquiries 
from the spirit, though still anxious to learn more." 

3 Wolf.] Avarice. 

4 Of his appearing.] He is thought to allude to Can Grande 
della Scala. See Hell, canto i. 98. 

3 Fabricius.] So our author in the second book of the Dc 
Monarchic, p. 121. "Nonne Fabiicium, &c." "Has not 
28 



32o THE VISION. 25-51 

With poverty, before great wealth with vije." 
The words so pleased me. that desire to know 

Lnbiermsh d. " Spirit ! who dost speak ot deeds 
So worthy, tell me who thou wast." I said. 
*• And why thou dost with single voice renew 
Memorial of such praise. That boon vouchsafed 
Haply shall meet reward : it I return 

Of mortal dissolution. I was root- 
Had Ghent and Douay. Lii!e and Bruges power r 
And vengeance I of heaven's great Judge implore. 
Hugh Cahoet was I night : from me descend 
The Philips and the Louis. 01 whom France 

The slaucrntcrer's tradr 4 a/Paris. When the race 



Fibriclurnr 
Coir.: are Petrarch. Tr. della F-c;a. c. i. 

Lhi Cario e.l m: Fhorich assai ;■ ' elli 

On '---. lu p werta, rhe Mida. e Cr-.sso 

C ">n i'cro cii'F a wr:o; ftiron ri 
- fV.h- C:.5.". The sury of Xieh-has .s. ih-i - o :-.r.r-! i.a\ 
inr r-v.f:-.'.::. :_■ hint that the rhther c'ha faro.ly "v.-,s ; . 
erishod _-.s t- res live 011 exposing the ch.ij;.:;: of V; ;o.::: 
daughters t:> s a I e . he threw in at the w'ndov, >~: ihei 

'V^oTt.' Hardi Caret, ancestor of Philio IV. 

^ Hii G\fr*~z»-i liouiv. Li.U .:- ■.' i?rz,-±---.5 r<;:.:-;rf Thes* 
cities ho.; lately been seized by Philip IV. The spirit is made 

of France in 967. was however rhe grandson of Fo oert. who 



5a^>4. PURGATORY, Canto XX. 327 

Of ancient k'ngs had vanish'd (all save one 1 
Wrapp'd up in sable weeds) within my gripe 
I foand the reins of empire, and such powers 
Of new acquirement, with full store of friends, 
That soon the widow'd circlet of the crown 
Was girt upon the temples of my son, 2 
He, from whose bones the anointed race begins. 
Till the great dower of Provence 3 had removed 
The stains, 4 that yet obscured our lowly blood, 
Its sway indeed was narrow ; but howe'er 
It wrought no evil : there, with force and lies, 
Began its rapine : after, for amends, 5 
Poitou it seized, Navarre and Gascony. 6 



was the brother of Eudes, King of France in 888 ; and it may, 
therefore, well be questioned, whether by Beccaio di Parigi 
is meant literally one who carried on the trade of a butcher, 
at Paris, and whether the sanguinary disposition of Hugh 
Capet's father is not stigmatized by this opprobrious appelia 
tion. See Cancellieri, Osservazioni, &c, Roma, 1814, p. 6. 

1 All save one.] The posterity of Charlemagne, the second 
race of French monarchs, had failed, with the exception of 
Charles of Lorraine, who is said, on account of the melan- 
choly temper of his mind, to have always clothed himself in 
black. Venturi suggests that Dante may have confounded 
him with Childeric III., the last of the Merovingian, or first 
race, who was deposed and made a monk in 751. 

2 My son.] Hugh Capet caused his son Robert to be 
crowned at Orleans. 

3 The great dower of Jfrrovence.] Louis IX. and his brother 
Charles of Anjou, married two of the four daughters of Ray- 
mond Berenger, Count of Provence. See Par., c. vi. 135. 

4 Tlic stains.] Lombardi understands this differently from 
all the other commentators with whom I am acquainted. 
The word " vergogna" he takes in the sense of " a praise- 
worthy shame of doing ill ;*' and according to him, the trans- 
lation should run thus : 

The shame that yet restrain'd my race from ill. 
By "Provenza" he understands the estates of Toulouse, the 
dowry of the only daughter of Raymond, Count of Toulouse, 
married to a brother of Louis IX. 

5 For amends.] This is ironical. 

6 Poitou it seized, Navarre and Gascony.] I venture to read— 

Potti e Navarra prese e Giascogna, 
tistead of 

Ponti e Normandia prese e Guascogna. 

Seized Ponthieu, Normandy and Gascogny. 
Landino has " Potti," and he is probably right : for Poitou 
was annexed to the French crown by Philip IV. See He- 
nault, Abrege Chron., A. D. 1283, &c. Normandy had been 
united to it long before by Philip Augustus, a circumstance 
of which it is difficult to imagine that Dante should have 
been ignorant ; but Philip IV., says Henault, ibid., took the 
title of King of Navarre : and the subjugation of Navarre 



326 TII£ VISION. 65 v M 

To Italy came Charles : and for amends, 
Young Conradine, 1 an innocent victim, slew ; 

is also alluded to in the Paradise, Canto xix. 140. In 3293, 
Philip IV. summoned Edward I. to do him homage for the 
riuchy of Gascogny, which he had conceived the design of 
seizing. See G, Viltani, Lib. viii. car 

The whole passage has occasioned much perplexity. ] 
cannot withhold from my readers the advantage of an at- 
tempt made to unravel it by the late Archdeacon Fisher, 
which that gentleman, though a stranger, had the goodness 
to communicate to me in the following terms : M I am en- 
couraged to offer you an elucidation of a passage, with the 
interpretation of which I was never yet satisfied. As it goes 
esta lish the accuracy of two very happy conjectures 
which you have made at Purg. xx. 68, you will perhaps for- 
give me. if my notion a little militates against your solution 
of the difficulty. The passage is as follows : 

I' fin radice della mala pianta. 
Che la terra Cristiana tutta aduggia, 
Si che buon frutto radose ae s shianfa. 

Ala se Doagio, Guanto, Lilla, e Bruggia 

. 5ser, tosto ne saria vendetta : 
Ed io la cheggio a lui, che tutto giuggia 

Mentre che la gran dote Provenzale 
Al sangue mio non tolse la vergogna, 
I : ■ ilea, ma pur non facea male. 
r -- ::.> con forza e con menzogna 

La sua rapina ; e poscia. per ammenda, 
Potti e Xavarra prese, e Guascogna. 

It is my persuasion that the stanzas I have copied are m.t 
passage, continuous in its sense, interrupted only by a pa 
renthesis of four stanzas, which are introduced as necessary 
to the political solution of the meaning ink tha\ 

my quoted stanzas refer to only one person, and that Philip 
France. He is depicted by both the phrases, mala 
pianta, and sangue mio. I do not find that Louis LX. ob 
tained any pan of Provence by dowry, owing to his marriage 
with the daughter of the prince of that country : at least no- 
thing equivalent to the words la gran dote P.'ovenzale. I 
suppose the stanzas quoted to depict the three great events 
in the life :: Philip IV. He married, during the life of his 
father, the heiress of the kingdom of Navarre, and also of 
the duchy of Champagne. Philip obtained at once the scv 
ereignty of both these dowries, and left to his son Philip V. 
the title of King of France and Xavarre. On the accession 
of Philip rv. to the throne, he became embroiled with the 
English respecting the duchy of Guienne, which, after having 
changed masters frequently, was then in the possession of 
id I. The word Guienne included Poitou and Gascony, 
and was generally the country termed by Caesar, Aquitania. 
By perfidy, and the childish ignorance of Edmund, the brother 

■ : II vard I., Philip got possession of Guienne The 

duchy of Champagne, now annexed to the crown of France, 
lying adjacent to that of Flanders, Philip next endeavored 
i lay hands on that fief: and failing in treacherous nego 
nation, he carried a cruel and murderous war into the low 
c*a i tnes, and laid them desolate. His progress was stopper 



S7-77. PURGATORY, Canto XX. 329 

And sent the angelic teacher 2 back to heaven, 
Still for amends. I see the time at hand, 
That forth frem France invites another Charles 3 
To make himself and kindred better kncwn. 
Unarm'd he issues, saving with that lance, 
Which the arch-traitor tilted with ; 4 and that 
He carries with so home a thrust, as rives 
The bowels of poor Florence. No increase 
Of territory hence, but sin and shame 
Shall be his guerdon ; and so much the more 
As he more lightly deems of such foul wrong. 



by the Flemings at the battle of Courtrai, and he was soon 
after compelled to surrender Guienne to the English king, 
and to make peace with his numerous enemies. 

M Now to these three leading epochs of Philip's life, the 
Poet seems to allude. Doagio, Guanto, Lilla e Bruggia refer 
to his desolating war in Flanders ; Vendetta, to the battle of 
Courtrai; la gran dote Provenzale, to the dowry of the king- 
dom of Navarre and the duchy of Champagne ; forza e men-' 
zogna, to his conduct respecting Guienne with its two sister 
provinces, as you so convincingly conjectured, Potti e Guas 
cogna." 

1 Young Conradine.] Charles of Anjou put Conradino to 
death in 1*208, and became King of Naples. See Hell, Canto 
xxviii. 16, and note. Compare Fazio degli Uberti, Dittamon- 
do, lib. ii. cap. xxix. 

2 The angelic teacher.] Thomas Aquinas. lie was reported 
to have been poisoned by a physician, who wished to ingra- 
tiate himself with Charles of Anjou. "In the year 1323, at 
the end of July, by the said Pope John and by his cardinals, 
was canonized at Avignon Thomas Aquinas, of the order of 
Saint Dominic, a master in divinity and philosophy, a man 
most excellent in all science, and who expounded the sense 
of scripture better than any one since the time of Augustin. 
He lived in the time of Charles I. King of Sicily; and going 
to the council at Lyons, it is said that he was killed by a 
physician of the said king, who put poison for him into some 
sweetmeats, thinking to ingratiate himself with King Charles, 
because he was of the lineage of the lords of Aquino, who 
had rebelled against the king, and doubting lest he should 
be made cardinal : whence the church of God received great 
damage. He died at the abbey of Fossanova, in Campagna.** 
G. Villani, lib. ix. cap. 213 We shall find him in the Para- 
dise, Canto x. 

3 Another Charles.] Charles of Valois, brother of Philip 
IV., was sent by Pope Boniface VIII. to settle the disturbed 
state of Florence. In consequence of the measures he adopt- 
ed for that purpose, our Poet and his friends were condemned 
to exile and death. See G. Villani, lib. viii. c. xlviii. 

4 With that lance, 

Which the arch- traitor tilted with.] 

con la lancia 

Con la qual giostrb Giuda. 

If I remember right, in one of the old romances, Judat b 
represented tilting with our Saviour. 



330 THE VISION. SMI 

the oilier. 1 who a prisonei I 
Had stepp'd on snore exposing to r. 
ighier, whom he "■: ugaine :;a 
The Corsairs foi their slaves. O avarice! 
What const thou more, who hast subdued our blood 
wholly to thyself, they fed no care 
:i: :;.n riesh 1 To hide with direr guilt 
Past ill and future, lo ! the flower-de-1 
Enters Alagna : in his Vicar Christ 
iimself : captive, and his mockery 
■'_ ■: I a gain. Lo! to his holy lip 
fae vinegar and gall once more applied; 
And he 'twixt living robbers doom"d to bleed 
Lo ! the new Pilate, of whose cruelty 
Such violence cai - v.- . 

th no decree to sanction, pushes on 
Into a his yet Bag y: se 

••' O sovereign blaster 'r when shah I rej 



i The other: Charles, King of Naples the el lest son of 
Charles of A:; a having, contrary ro the directions »f h 
father, engaged with Ruggiei a Lamia, (he admiral of Petei 
a was m I carried into Sicily, June, 

1284. He afterwards, a ■:■ : :: sideratio n of a large snm of 
a a a-: ;.'. zzo Vila M? 

I take Lanris :aeant by Petrarch in his 

7._a_a;a ■:: Ft.rae. 

a a - Lmia ae goiva il Saladino. Cap. ii. v. 151. 

whom Biagioli says in a note, "Nod bo : a s£a, e noa 
a ■: hi mel dica." *~ I know not who he 

_s, and I find no one alive or dead to tell m 

1 calls Lamia " a brave captain, signalized 
former victories." See also the seventh book of G. Villani's 
history s Decameron, G. 5, N. 6; where he is 

named Engsieri dell* Oria. 

- T'.. : :: .•.--.■.':-. uce.] Bonifece VIIL was Alagna 

npag , by the order of Philip IV. in the year 1303, and 

soon after d ed a grief a Villani, lib. viii. cap. 63. M As it 

please art of Boniface being petrified with grief, 

ttiroagh the icjury he had sustained, when he came to Rome, 

he fell into strange mal he gnawed himself as one 

this state :;arl Kis character is strongly 

: in the i ext chapter. Thus, says Lan- 

dtno, was verified the prophecy : C peering him, 

n the popedom like a fox, reign like a 

md die like a dog. 

Into t e : le.] lis uncertain whether onr Poet allndes 

Mentioned in the preceding note, or to the 

aai of the order of the Templars in 1310, bat the 

latter appears more probable. 

-- Ost ster.] Lombardi, who rightly corrects Yen- 

explanation of this passage, with which I will not 
ile ale leader, shonl .wledged, if he was con- 

scious of it, that his cwa rnterpretation .1 a was *he samt 



96-123. PURGATORY, Canto XX. 33\ 

To see the vengeance, which thy wrath, well -pleased, 
In secret silence broods ? — While daylight lasts, 
So long what thou didst hear 1 of her, sole spouse 
Of the Great Spirit, and on which thou tunvdst 
To me for comment, is the general theme 
Of all our prayers : but, when it darkens, then 
A different strain we utter ; then record 
Pygmalion, 2 whom his gluttonous thirst of gold 
Made traitor, robber, parricide: the woes 
Of Midas, which his greedy wish ensued, 
Mark'd for derision to all future times : 
And the fond Achan, 3 how he stole the prey, 
That yet he seems by Joshua's ire pursued. 
Sapphira with her husband next we blame ; 
And praise the forefeet, that with furious ramp 
Spurn'd Heliodorus. 4 All the mountain round 
Rings with the infamy of Thracia's king, 5 
Who slew his Phrygian charge : and last a shout 
Ascends : ' Declare, O Crassus ! 6 for thou know'st, 
The flavor of thy gold.' The voice of each 
Now high, now low, as each his impulse prompts, 
Is led through many a pitch, acute or grave. 
Therefore, not singly, I erewhile rehearsed 
That blessedness we tell of in the day : 
But near me, none, beside, his accent raised." 
From him we now had parted, and essay'd 
With utmost efforts to surmount the way ; 
When I did feel, as nodding to its fall, 

as that before given by Vellutello: "When, O Lord, shall I 
behold that vengeance accomplished, which being already 
determined in thy secret judgment, thy retributive justice 
even now contemplates with delight?" 

1 What thou didst hear.] See v. 21. 

2 Pygmalion.'] 

Ille SychEBum 

Impius ante aras, atque auri caecus amore, 
Clam ferro incautum superat. 

Virg. JEn., 1. 1. 350. 

3 Achan.] Joshua, vii. 

4 Heliodorus.] " For there appeared unto them an horse, 
with a terrible rider upon him, and adorned with a very fail 
covering, and he ran fiercely and smote at Heliodorus with 
Iris fore feet." 2 Maccabees, iii. 25. 

5 Thracia's king.] Polymnestor, the murderer of Polydo- 
ms. Hell, Canto xxx. 19. 

6 Crassus.] Marcus Crassus, who fell misen bly in the 
°arthian war. See Appian. Parthica. 

E vidi Ciro piu di sangue avaro, 

Che Crasso d'oro, e l'uno e l'altro n ebbe 

Tanto, che prrve a ciascheduno amaro. Pcirarca 



332 THE VISION. 12.1-1 j* 

The mountain tremble ; whence an icy chid 
Seized on me. as on one to death convey'd. 
So shook not Delos, when Latona there 
Couch'd to bring forth the twin-born eyes of heaven 

Forthwith from every side a shout arose 
So vehement, that suddenly my guide [thee." 

Drew near, and cried: •'•' Doubt not. while I conduct 
" Glory I" all shouted, ^such the sounds mine ear 
Gather'd from those, who near me swell'dthe sounds."; 
•• Glory in the highest be to God." We stood 
Immoveably suspended, like to those. 
The shepherds, who first heard in Bethlehem's field 
That song: till ceased the trembling, and the soag 
Was enc^d: then our haiiow'd path resumed, 
Eying the prostrate shadows, who renew'd 
Their custom' d mourning. Xever in my breast 
Did ignorance so struggle with desire 
Of knowledge, if my memory do not err. 
As in that moment ; nor through haste dared I 
To question, nor myself could aught discern. 
So on I fared, in thoughtfulness and dread. 



CAXTO XXI. 

ARGUMENT. 
The two poets are overtaken by the spirit of Statins, wno, 
being cleansed, is on his way to Paradise, and who explains 
inse of the mountain shaking, and of the hymn ; his 
joy at beholding Virgil. 

The natural thirst, ne'er quenclrd but from the 
Whereof the woman of Samaria craved. [welL 1 

Excited; haste, along the curnber*d path, 
Alter my guide, impell'd : and pity moved 
My bosom for the Vengeful doom though just. 
When lo ! even as Luke' 2 relates, that Christ 
Appear'd unto the two upon their way. 
New-risen from his vaulted grave ; to us 
A shade appear'd, and after us approach'd. 
Contemplating the crowd beneath its feet. 
We were not ware of it ; so first it spake. 
Saying. ••'God give you peace, my brethren!" then 
Sudden we tum'd : and Virgil such salute, 
As fitted that kind greeting, gave ; and cried: 

1 The well.' -'The woman saith unto him, Sir. give me 
ibis water, thai I thirst not." J,\n. iv. 15. 
■ Luke.] Chaptei mv. 13. 



15-48. PURGATORY, Canto XXI. 333 

u Peace in the blessed council be tl'y lot. 

Awarded by that righteous court which me 

To everlasting banishment exiles." [while 

" How !" he exclaim'd, nor from his speed mean- 
Desisting ;* "If that ye be spirits whom God 
Vouchsafes not room above ; who up the height 
Has been thus far your guide ?" To whom the bard : 
" If thou observe the tokens, 2 which this man, 
Traced by the finger of the angel, bears ; 
'Tis plain that in the kingdom of the just [wheel 
He needs must share. But sithence she, 3 whose 
Spins day and night, for him not yet had drawn 
That yarn, which on the fatal distaff piled, 
Clotho apportions to each wight that breathes ; 
His soul, that sister is to mine and thine, 
Not of herself could mount ; for not like ours 
Her ken : whence I, from forth the ample gulf 
Of hell, was ta'en, to lead him, and will lead 
Far as my lore avails. But, if thou know. 
Instruct us for w T hat cause, the mount ere while 
Thus shook, and trembled : w T herefore all at once 
Seem'd shouting, even from his wave-wash'd foot." 

Thus questioning so tallied with my wish, 
The thirst did feel abatement of its edge 
E'en from expectance. He forthwith replied . 
" In its devotion, naught irregular 
This mount can witness, or by punctual rule 
Unsanction'd ; here from every change exempt, 
Other than that, which heaven in itself 
Doth of itself receive, 4 no influence 
Can reach us. Tempest none, shower, hail, or snow, 
Hoar frost, or dewy moistness, higher falls 
Than that brief scale of threefold steps : thick clouds, 
Nor scudding rack, are ever seen : swift glance 

1 nor from his speed meanwhile 

Desisting.] The unintelligible reading of almost all the 
editions here (but not of all, as Lombardi would lead us to 
suppose, except his favorite Nidobeatina) is 

E perche andate forte 1 
Vellutello has also that which is no doubt the right : 
E parte andava forte. 

2 The tokens.] The letter P for Peccata, sins, inscribed upon 
his forehead by the Angel, in order to his being cleared of 
them in his passage through Purgatory to Paradise 

3 She.] Lachesis, one of the three fates. 
4 that, which heaven in itself 

Doth of itself receive.] Yenturi, I think rightly, interprets 
this to be light. 



334 THE VISION. 4Mi 

Ne'er lightens ; nor Th-.iumantian 1 Iris gleams, 

That yonder often shifts on each side heaven. 

Vapor adust doth never mount above 

The highest of the trinal stairs, whereon 

Peter's vicegerent stands. Lower perchance, 

With v arious motion rock'd, trembles the soil : 

But here, through wind in earth's deep hollow pent, 

I know not how, yet never trembled : then 

Trembles, when any spirit feels itself 

So purified, that it may rise, or move 

For rising ; and such loud acclaim ensues. 

Purification, by the will alone, 

Is proved, that free to change scciety 

Seizes the soul rejoicing in her will. 

Desire of bliss is present from the first ; 

But strong propension hinders, to that wish* 

By the just ordinance of heaven opposed ; 

Propension now as eager to fulfil 

The allotted torment, as ere while to sin. 

And I, who in this punishment had lain 

Five hundred years and more, but now have felt 

Free wish for happier clime. Therefore thou felt'st 

The mountain tremble ; and the spirits devout 

Heard'st, over all his limits, utter praise 

To that liege Lord, whom I entreat their joy 

To hasten." Thus he spake : and, since the draught 

Is grateful ever as the thirst is keen, 

No words may speak my fulness of content. 

" Now," said the instructor sage, " I see the net 3 
That takes ye here ; and how the toils are loosed ; 
Why rocks the mountain, and wny ye rejoice. 
Vouchsafe, that from thy lips I next may learn 
Who on the earth thou wast ; and wherefore here, 

i Tlmumaniian.] Figlia di Taumante. 

Bdv^avrog QvydrTjp. Hesiod. Theog., 780. 

Compare Plato, Theaet, v. ii. p. 76. Bip. edit. Virg. JEn., ix. 5, 
and Spenser, Faery Queen, b. v. c. iii. st. 25. 

Fair is Thaumantias in her crystal gown. 

JDrummond. 

2 To that wish.] Lombardi here alters the sense by reading 
with the Nidobeatina, "con tal voglia," instead of "contra 
voglia." and explains it: " With the same ineffectual will, 
with which man was contrary to sin, while he resolved on 
Binning, even w T ith the same, would he wish to rise from his 
torment in Purgatory, at the same time that through inclina- 
tion to satisfy the divine justice he yet remains there." 

3 I see the net.] "I perceive that ye are detained here bv 
four wish to satisfy the divine justice " 



82-110. PURGATORY, Cant j XXI. 335 

So many an age, wert prostrate." — " In tnut time, 

When the good Titus, 1 with Heaven's King to help. 

Avenged those piteous gashes, whence the blood 

By Judas sold did issue ; with the name 2 

Most lasting and most honor' d, there, was I 

Abundantly renown'd," the shade replied, 

" Not yet with faith endued. So passing sweet 

My vocal spirit ; from Tolosa, 3 Rome 

To herself drew me, where I merited 

A myrtle garland 4 to inwreath my brow 

Statius they name me still. Of Thebes I sang, 

And next of great Achilles ; but i' the way 

Fed 5 with the second burden. Of my flame 

Those sparkles were the seeds, which I derived 

From the bright fountain of celestial fire 

That feeds unnumber'd lamps ; the song I mean 

Which sounds iEneas' wanderings : that the breast 

I hung at ; that the nurse, from whom my veins 

Drank inspiration : whose authority 

Was ever sacred with me. To have lived 

Coeval with the Mantuan, I would bide 

The revolution of another sun 

Beyond my stated years in banishment." 

The Mantuan, when he heard him, turn'd to me 
And holding silence, by his countenance 
Enjoin'd me silence : but the power, which wills, 
Bears not supreme control : laughter and tears 
Follow so closely on the passion prompts them, 
They wait not for the motions of the will 

1 JMien the good Titus.] When it was so ordered by the 
divine Providence that Titus, by the destruction of Jerusalem, 
should avenge the death of our Saviour on the Jews. 

2 The name.] The name of Poet. 

^ From Tolosa.] Dante, as many others have done, con- 
founds Statius the poet, who was a Neapolitan, with a rheto- 
rician of the same name, who was of Tolosa, or Thoulouse 
Thus Chaucer, Temple of Fame, b. iii. 

The Tholason, that height Stace. 
\nd Boccaccio, as cited by Lombardi : 

E Stazio di Tolosa ancoracaro. Amoros. Vis. Cant. 5. 

4 A myrtle garland.] 

Et vos, O lauri, carpam, et te, proxima mvrte. 

Virg. Ed., ii. 
Q.ual vaghezza di lauro 1 o qual di mirto 1 Pctrarca. 
Yet once more, O ye laurels, and once more 
Ye myrtles brown. Milton, Lycidas 

5 Fell.] Statius lived to write only a small part of 1h« 
^.chiileid 



S36 THE VISION. 111-131 

In natures most sincere. I did but smile, 1 
As one who winks : and thereupon the shade 
Broke off, and peer'd into mine eyes,, where best 
Our looks interpret. " So to good event 
Mayst thou conduct such great emprize," he cried 
" Say, why across thy visage beam'd, but now, 
The lightning of a smile." On either part 
Now am I straiten'd ; one conjures me speak, 
The other to silence binds me : whence a sigh 
I utter, and the sigh is heard. " Speak on," 
The teacher cried : " and do not fear to speak ; 
But tell him what so earnestly he asks." 
Whereon I thus : " Perchance, O ancient spirit 
Thou marvell'st at my smiling. There is room 
For yet more wonder. He, who guides my ken 
On high, he is that Mantuan, led by whom 
Thou didst presume of men and gods to sing. 
If other cause thou deenrdst for which I smiled, 
Leave it as not the true one ; and believe 
Those words, thou spakest of him, indeed the cause. 
Now down he bent to embrace my teacher's feel 
Bat he forbade him : " Brother ! do it not : 
Thou art a shadow, and behold'st a shade." 
He, rising, answer d thus: " Now hast thou proved 
The force and ardor of the love I bear thee, 
When I forget we are but things of air, 
And, as a substance, treat an empty shade." 

CANTO XXII. 

ARGUMENT. 

Dante, Virgil, and Statins mount to the sixth cornice, whero 
the sin of gluttony is cleansed, the two Latin Poets dis- 
coursing by the way. Turning to the right, they find a tree 
hung with sweet-smelling fruit, and watered by a shower 
that issues from the rock. Voices are heard to proceed from 
among the leaves, recording examples of temperance 

Now we had left the angel, who had tum'd 
To the sixth circle our ascending step ; 
One gash from off my forehead razed; while they, 
Whose wishes tend to justice, shouted forth, 
u Blessed !" 2 and ended with " I thirst :" and I, 

1 J did but smile.] "I smiled no more than one would do 
who wished by a smile to intimate his consciousness of any 
thing to another per; ^n." 

2 Blessed.} " Blessed be they which do hunger and thirst 
p.fter righteousness, for they shall be filled." J£att. v. 6- 



*-43. PURGATORY Canto XXII. 33? 

More nimble than along the other straits, 
So journey'd, that, without the sense of toil, 
I follow'd upward the swift-footed shades ; 
When Virgil thus began : " Let its pure flame 
From virtue flow, and love can never fail 
To warm another's bosom, so the light 
Shine manifestly forth. Hence, from that hour, 
When, 'mongst us in the purlieus of the deep, 
Came down the spirit of Aquinum's bard, 1 
Who told of thine affection, my good will 
Hath been for thee of quality as strong 
As ever link'd itself to one not seen. 
Therefore these stairs will now seem short to me. 
But tell me : and, if too secure, I loose 
The rein with a friend's license, as a friend 
Forgive me, and speak now as with a friend : 
How chanced it covetous desire could find 
Place in that bosom, 'midst such ample store 
Of wisdom, as thy zeal had treasured there ?" 

First somewhat moved to laughter by his wo~ds, 
Statins replied : " Each syllable of thine 
Is a dear pledge of love. Things oft appear, 
That minister false matter to our doubts, 
When their true causes are removed from sight. 
Thy question doth assure me, thou believest 
I was on earth a covetous man ; perhaps 
Because thou found'st me in that circle placed. 
Know then I was too wide of avarice : 
And e'en for that excess, thousands of moons 
Have wax'd and waned upon my sufferings. 
And were it not that I with heedful care 
xNoced, where thou exclaim'st as if in ire 
With human nature, ' Why, 2 thou cursed thirst 
Of gold ! dost not with juster measure guide 
The appetite of mortals V I had met 
The fierce encounter 3 of the voluble rock. 
Then was I ware that, with too ample wing, 
The hands may haste to lavishment ; and turn'd 

1 Jlquinum's bard.] Juvenal had celebrated his contempo- 
rary, Status, Sat. vii. 82; though some critics imagine tna 
there is a secret derision couched under his praise. 

2 Why.] Quid non mortalia pectora cogis, 

Auri sacra fames 1 Virg. JEn., lib. iii. 57. 

Venturi supposes that Dante might have mistaken the 
meaning of the word sacra, and construed it u holy," instead 
of " cursed." But I see no necessity for having recourse tc 
so improbable a conjecture. 

3 The fierce encounter.] See He.'l, Canto vii. 2G. 

29 



338 THE VISION. 44-% 

As from my other evil, so from this, 

In penitence. How many from their grave 

Shall with shorn locks 1 arise, who living, ay, 

And at life's last extreme, of this offence, 

Through ignorance, did not repent ! And know, 

The fault, which lies direct from any sin 

In level opposition, here, with that, 

Wastts its green rankness on one common heap 

Therefore, if I have been with those, who wail 

Their avarice, to cleanse me ; through reverse 

Of their transgression, such hath been my lot." 

To whom the sovereign of the pastoral song . 
" While thou didst sing that cruel warfare waged 
By the twin sorrow of Jocasta's womb, 2 
From thy discourse with Clio 3 there, it seems 
As faith had not been thine ; without the which, 
Good deeds suffice not. And if so, what sun 
Rose on thee, or what candle pierced the dark, 
That thou didst after see to hoise the sail, 
And follow where the fisherman had led ?" 

He answering thus : " By thee conducted first, 
I enter d the Parnassian grots, and quaff d 
Of the clear spring ; illumined first by thee, 
Open'd mine eyes to God. Thou didst, as one, 
Who, journeying through the darkness, bears a ligru 
Behind, that profits not himself, but makes 
His followers wise, when thou exclaimedst, ( Lo ' 
A renovated world, 4 Justice return'd, 
Times of primeval innocence restored, 
And a new race descended from above.' 
Poet and Christian both to thee I owed. 
That thou mayst mark more clearly what I trace, 
My hand shall stretch forth to inform the lines 
With livelier coloring. Soon o'er all the world, 
By messengers from heaven, the true belief 

* With shorn locks.] See Hell, Canto vii. 58. 

2 The twin sorrow of Jocasta's womb.] Eteocles and Polv 
nires. 

* With Clio.] 

Quem prius heroum Clio dabis 1 immodicum irte 
Tydea 1 laurigeri subitos an vatis hiatus 1 

Stat., Thebaid., i. 43- 
4 A renovated world.] 
Magnus ab integro saeclorum nascitur ordo. 
Jam redit et Virgo ; redeunt Saturnia regna ; 
Jam nova progenies coelo demittitur alto. 

Virg. Eel., iv. 5. 
Tor the application of Virgil's prophecy to the incarnation, 
fee Xatalis "Alexander, Hist. Eccl. Ssbc" i. Dissert. 1. Taria 
1079, v. i. p. 1C6. 



79-105. PURGATORY, Canto XXII. 339 

Teem'd now prolific ; and that word of thine, 

Accordant, to the new instructors chimed- 

Induced by which agreement, I was wont 

Resort to them ; and soon their sanctity 

So won upon me, that, Domitian's rage 

Pursuing them, I mix'd my tears with theirs ; 

And, while on earth I stay'd, still succor'd them ; 

And their most righteous customs made me scorn 

All sects besides. Before 1 I led the Greeks, 

In tuneful fiction, to the streams of Thebes, 

I was baptized ; but secretly, through fear, 

Remained a Christian, and conform'd long tire ft 

To Pagan rites. Four centuries and more, 

I, for that lukewarmness, was fain to pace 

Round the fourth circle. Thou then, who hast raised 

The covering which did hide such blessing from me, 

While much of this ascent is yet to climb, 

Say, if thou know, where our old Terence 2 bides, 

Caecilius, 3 Plautus, Varro : 4 if condemn'd 

They dwell, and in what province of the deep." 

" These," said my guide, " with Persius and myself, 

And others many more, are with that Greek, 5 

Of mortals, the most cherish'd by the nine, 

In the first ward of darkness. There, oft-times, 

We of that mount hold converse, on whose top 

For ave our nurses live. We have the bard 

Of Pella, 7 and the Teian, 8 Agatho, 9 



i Before.] Before I had composed the Thebaid. 

2 Our old Terence.] " Antico," which is found in many t* 
the old editions, seems preferable to " amico." 

3 Cacilius.] Caecilius Statius, a Latin comic poet, of whose 
works some fragments only remain. Our Poet had Horace in 
his eye. 

Dicitur Afrani toga convenisse Menandro, 
Plautus ad exemplar Siculi properare Epicharmi, 
Vincere Caecilius gravitate, Terentius arte. 

Epist., lib. il. 1. 
* Varro.] " Quam multa pene omnia tradidit Varro." 
Quintilian. Instit. Orat., lib.xii. " Vix aperto ad philosophiam 
aditu, primus M. Varro veterum omnium doctissimus." Sa 
iolet. de liberis recte instit. Edit. Lugd. ] >33, p. 137. 
s That Greek.] Homer. 
6 In the first ward.] In Limbo. 

7 The bard 

Of Pella.] Euripides. 
B The Teian.] Euripide v' e nosco e Anacreonte. 
The Monte Cassino MS. reads " Antifonte" " Antipho," in 
itead of " Anacreonte." Dante probably knew little more o! 
lhese Greek writers than the names. 

s Jigatho.] Chaucer, speaking of the Daisy as a represeuta 
tion of Alcestis, refers to Agaton: 



340 THE VISION. 106- 114 

Simonides, and many a Grecian else 

Ingarlanded with laurel. Of thy train, 1 

Antigone is there, Dei'phile, 

Argia, and as sorrowful as erst 

Esmene, and who show'd Langia's wave : 2 

Oeidaraia with her sisters there, 

And blind Tiresias' daughter, 3 and the bride 



No wonder is though Jove her stellifie, 

As tellith Agaton for her goodnesse. 

Legende of Good Women. 
And Mr. Tyrwhitt tells us that " he has nothing to say of this 
writer except that one of the same name is quoted in the 
Prol. to the tragedie of Cambises by Thomas Preston. There 
is no reason," he adds, " for suppo'sing with Gloss. Ur. that a 
philosopher of Samos is meant, or any of the Agathoes of 
antiquity." I am inclined, however, to believe that Chaucei 
must have meant Agatho, the dramatic writer, whose name, 
at least, appears to have been familiar in the middle ages; 
for, besides the mention of him in the text, he is quoted by 
Dante in the Treatise De Monarchic, lib. iii. "Deus per nun- 
cium faeere non potest, genita non esse, genita, juxta sen- 
tentiam Agathonis." The original is to be found in Aristotle, 
Ethic. Nicom., lib. vi. c. 2. 

M6vov yap avrov kcu 3-ebg crepiaKtrai 
'Ayivnra -noulv acra av ]j ire-payniva. 

Agatho is mentioned by Xenophon in his Symposium, by 
Plato in the Protagoras, and in the Banquet, a favorite 
book with our author, and by Aristotle in his Art of Poetry, 
where the following remarkable passage occurs respecting 
him, from which I will leave it to the reader to decide whether 
it is possible that the allusion in Chaucer might have arisen : 
tv iviais /iev ev r) dvo tG>v yvcopifxwv iariv dpOjidruiVy ra hi 
d'XAa TtZTiOiriixiva' ev hnaig M ovQiv' olov h ra> 'Aydflunos 
y Avdu. b^oius yap ti> rovrip rd re -Kpdy\iara koX ra 
ivdjjLara Tier.oinrai, Kal obcev r\rrov thtypaivsi. Edit. 1794, 
p. 33. " There are, however, some tragedies, in which one 
or two of the names are historical, and the rest feigned ; 
there are even some, in which none of the names are his'ori- 
cal; such is Agatho's tragedy called The Flower ; for in that 
all is invention^ both incidents and names ; and yet it pleases " 
Aristotle's Treatise on Poetry, by Thomas Twining, 8vo Edit 
1812, vol. i. p. 128. 
i Of thy train.] " Of those celebrated in thy Poem." 

2 W7w show'd Langia's wave.] Hypsipile. Fee note to 
£anto xxvi. v. 87. 

3 Tiresias' daughter.] Dante, as some have thought, had 
forgotten th?.t he^had placed Manto, the daughter of Tiresias, 
among the sorcerers. See Hell, Canto xx. Vellutello endeavors, 
rather awkwardly, to reconcile the apparent inconsistency 
by observing, that although she was placed there as a sinner, 
yet, as one of famous memory, she had also a place among 
the worthies in Limbo 



113-138. PURGATORY, Canto XXII. 34] 

Sea-born of Peleus." 1 Either poet now 
Was silent ; and no longer by the ascent 
Or the steep walls obstructed, round them cast 
Inquiring eyes. Four handmaids 2 of the day 
Had nnish'd now their office, and the fifth 
Was at the chariot-beam, directing still 
Its flamy point aloof ; when thus my guide : 
" Methinks, it well behooves us to the brink 
Bend the right shoulder, circuiting the mount, 
As we have ever used." So custom there 
Was usher to the road ; the which we chose 
Less doubtful, as that worthy shade 3 complied. 

They on before me went : I sole pursued, 
Listening their speech, that to my thoughts comey'd 
Mysterious lessons of sweet poesy. 
But soon they ceased ; for midway of the road 
A tree we found, with goodly fruitage hung, 
And pleasant to the smell : and as a fir, 
Upward from bough to bough, less ample spreads ; 
So downward this less ample spread ; 4 that none, 
Methinks, aloft may climb. Upon the side, 
That closed our path, a liquid crystal fell 
From the steep rock, and through the sprays above 
Stream'd showering. With associate step the bards 
Drew near the plant ; and, from amidst the leaves, 
A voice was heard : " Ye shall be chary of me ;" 

Lombardi, or rather the Delia Crusca academicians, excuse 
our author better, by observing that Tiresias had a daughter 
named Daphne. See Diodorus Siculus, lib. iv. § 66. I have 
here to acknowledge a communication made to me by the 
learned writer of an anonymous letter, who observes that 
Manto and Daphne are only different names for the same 
person ; and that Servius, in his Commentary on the ^Eneid, 
x. 198, says, that some make Manto the prophetess to be a 
daughter of Hercules. 

1 The bride 

Sea-born of Peleus.] Thetis. 

2 Four handmaids.] Compare Canto xii. v. 74. 

3 That worthy shade.\ Statius. 

4 Downward this less ample spread.] The early commenta 
tors understand that this tree had its root upward and the 
boughs downward ; and this opinion, however derided by 
their successors, is not a little countenanced by the imitation 
•*f Frezzi, who lived so near the time of our Poet: 

Su dentro al cielo avea la sua radice, 
E giu inverso terra i rami . c pande. 

II Quadrir., lib. v. cap 1 

It had in heaven 

Its root above, and downward to the earth 
Slretch'd forth the branches. 



342 1HE VISION. 139-MD 

And after added : " Man* took more thought 
For joy and honor of the nuptial feast, 
Than for herself, who answers now for you 
The women of old Rome 2 were satisfied 
With water for their beverage. Daniel 3 fed 
On pulse, and wisdom gain'd. The primal age 
Was beautiful as gold : and hunger then 
Made acorns tasteful ; thirst, each rivulet 
Run nectar. Honey and locusts were the food 
Whereon the Baptist in the wilderness 
Fed, and that eminence of glory reach'd 
And greatness, which tlr Evangelist records.'' 



CAXTO XXIII. 

ARGUMENT. 

They are overtaken by the spirit of Forese, who had been t 
friend of our Poet's on earth, and who now inveighs bit- 
terly against the immodest dress of their countrywomen al 
Florence. 

Ox the green leaf mine eyes were fix'd, like his 
Who throws away his days in idle chase 
Of the diminutive birds, when thus I heard 
The more than father warn me : " Son ! our time 
Asks thriftier using. Linger not : away." 

Thereat my face and steps at once I turn'd 
Toward the sages, by whose converse cheer'd 
I journey'd on, and felt no toil : and lo ! 
A sound of weeping, and a song : " My lips, 4 

i Mary took more thought.'] "The blessed virgin, who an- 
swers for you now in heaven, when she said to Jesus, at the 
marriage in Cana of Galilee, ' they have no wine,' regarded 
not the gratification of her own taste, but the honor of the 
nuptial banquet." 

2 The tcomen of old Rome.] See Valerius Maximus, 1. ii. c. L 

3 Daniel.] " Then said Daniel to Melzar, whom the prince 
of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Michael, and 
Azariah, Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days ; and 
let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink." Daniel, i. 
11, 12. 

"Thus Melzar took away the portion of their meat, and the 
ttine that they should drink : and gave them pulse. As for 
these four children. God gave them knowledge and skill in 
all learning and wisdom : and Daniel had understanding in 
ill visions and dreams." Ibid., 16, 17. 

4 My lips.] u O Lord, open thou my lips ; and my mouth 
•hail show forth thy praise." Psalm li. 15. 



10-37. PURGATORY, Canto XXIII. 343 

O Lord!*' and these so mingled, it gave birth 
To pleasure and to pain. " O Sire beloved ! 
Siy what is tins I hear." Thus I inquired. 

" Spirits," said he, M who, as they go, perchance, 
Their debt of duty pay." As on their road 
The thoughtful pilgrims, overtaking some 
Not known unto them, turn to them, and look, 
But stay not ; thus, approaching from behind 
With speedier motion, eyed us, as they pass'd, 
A crowd of spirits, silent and devout. 
The eyes 1 of each were dark and hollow ; pale 
Their visage, and so lean withal, the bones 
Stood staring through the skin. I do not think 
Thus dry and meager Erisicthon show'u, 
When pinch'd by sharp-set famine to the quick. 

" Lo !" to myself I mused, " the race, who lost 
Jerusalem, when Mary' 2 with dire beak 
Prey'd on her child." The sockets seem'd as rings, 8 
From which the gems were dropp'd. Who reads the 
Of man upon his forehead, there the M [name 4 

Had traced most plainly. Who would deem, that 
Of water and an apple could have proved [scent 
Powerful to generate such pining want, 
Not knowing how it wrought ? While now I stood, 
Wondering what thus could waste them, (for the cause. 
Of their gaunt hollowness and scaly rind 
Appear'd not,) lo ! a spirit turn'd his eyes 
In their deep-sunken cells, and fasten'd them 

The eyes.] Compare Ovid, Metam., lib. viii. 801. 
Hirtus erat crinis ; cava lumina, pallor in ore : 



Dura cutis, per quam spectari viscera possent : 
Ossa sub incurvis exstabant arida lumbis. 
2 fflien JIary.] Josephus, de Bello Jud., lib. vii. c. xxi. p 
»54. Ed. Genev., fol. 3611. The shocking story is well told. 
s Rings.'] 

Senza nor prato o senza gemma anello. 

Petrarca, Son. Lasciata hai, morte. 
O ring of which the rubie is outfall. 

Chaucer, Troilus and Creseide. b. v 

In this hat it 

Met I my father with his bleeding rings, 
Their precious stones new lost. 

Shakspeare, Lear, act v. scene 3 
* Who reads the name.] " He who pretends to distinguish 
Ihe letters which form OMO in the features of the human 
tace, might easily have traced out the M on their emaciated 
countenances: ' The temples, nose, and forehead are sup- 
ppsed to represent this letter ; and the eyes the two O' 
placed within each side of it. 



344 THE V ISION. 3^74 

On me, then cried with vehemence aloud : 
" What grace is this vouchsafed nie ?" By his look.! 
I ne'er had recognised him : but the voice 
Brought to my knowledge what his cheer conceal d 
Remembrance of his alter'd lineaments 
Was kindled from that spark ; and I agnized 
The visage of Forese. 1 " Ah ! respect 
This wan and leprous-wither'd skin," thus he 
Suppliant implored, " this macerated flesh. 
Speak to me truly of thyself. And who 
Are those twain spirits, that escort thee there i 
Be it not said thou scorn'st to talk with me. ' 

" That face of thine," I answer' d him, " winch dead 
I once bewail'd, disposes me not less 
For weeping, when I see it thus transform'd. 
Say then, by Heaven, what blasts ye thus? The 
I wonder, ask not speech from me : unapt [whilst 
Is he to speak, whom other will employs." 

He thus : " The water and the plant, we pass'd, 
With power are gifted, by the eternal will 
Infused ; the which so pines me. Every spirit, 
Whose song bewails his gluttony indulged 
Too grossly, here in hunger and in thirst 
Is purified. The odor, which the fruit, 
And spray that showers upon the verdure, breathe, 
Inflames us with desire to feed and drink. 
Nor once alone, encompassing our route, 
We come to add fresh fuel to the pain : 
Pain, said I ? solace, rather : for that will, 
To the tree, leads us, by which Christ was led 
To call on Eli, joyful, when he paid 
Our ransom from his vein." I answering thus ; 
" Forese ! from that day, in which the world 
For better life thou changedst, not five years 
Have circled. ' If the power 2 of sinning more 
Were first concluded in thee, ere thou knew'st 
That kindly grief which re -espouses us 
To God, how hither art thou come so soon ? 

* Forese.] One of the brothers of Piccarda ; he who is agr.in 
spoken of in the next Canto, and introduced in the Paradise 
Canto iii. Cionacci, in his Storia della Beata Umiliana, 
Parte iv, cap. i., is referred to by Lombard: in order to show 
that Forese was also the brother of Corso Donati, our author's 
political enemy. See next Canto, v. 81. Tiraboschi, aftei 
Crescimbeni, enumerates him among the Tuscan poets. Stor. 
della Poes. It., v. i. p. 139. 

2 If the power .] " If thou didst delay thy repentance to the 
last, when thou hadst lost the power of sinning, how happeaa 
it thou art arrived here so early V 1 



7G-99. PURGATORY, Canto XXIII. 345 

I thought to find thee lower, 1 there, where time 
Is recompense for time." He straight replied : 
" To drink up the sweet wormwood of affliction 
I have been brought thus early, by the tears 
Stream'd down my Nella's 2 cheeks. Her prayer* 

devout, 
Her sighs have drawn me from the coast, where oft 
Expectance lingers ; and have set me fre« 
From the other circles. In the sight of God 
So much the dearer is my widow prized, 
She whom I loved so fondly, as she ranks 
Mere singly eminent for virtuous deeds. 
The tract, most barbarous of Sardinia's isle, 3 
Hath dames more chaste, and modester by far, 
Than that wherein I left her. O sweet brother ! 
What wouldst thou have me say ? 4 A time to come 
Stands full within my view, to which this hour 
Shall not be counted of an ancient date, 
When from the pulpit shall be loudly warn'd 
The unblushing dames of Florence, 5 lest they bare 
Unkerchief 'd bosoms to the common gaze. 
What savage women hath the world e'er seen, 
What Saracens, 6 for whom there needed scourge 
Of spiritual or other discipline, 
To force them walk with covering on their limbs ? 

i Lovser.] In the Ante-Purgatory. See Canto ii. 

2 My Xella.] The wife of Forese. 

3 The tract, most barbarous of Sardinia's isle.] The Bar 
bagia is a part of Sardinia, to which that name was given, on 
account of the uncivilized state of its inhabitants, who are 
said to have gone nearly naked. 

4 ff'Tiat wouldst thou have me say ?] The interrogative, which 
Lombardi would dismiss from this place, as unmeaning and 
superfluous, appears to me to be the natural result of a deep 
feeling, and to prepare us for the invective that follows. 

5 The unblushing dames of Florence.] Landino's note ex- 
hibits a curious instance of the changeableness of his coun- 
trywomen. He even goes beyond the acrimony of the original. 
"In those days," says the commentator, "no less than in 
ours, the Florentine ladies exposed the neck and bosom, a 
dress, no doubt, more suitable to a harlot than a matron. But, 
as they changed soon after, insomuch that they wore collars 
up to the chin, covering the whole of the neck and throat, so 
have I hopes they will change again ; not indeed so much 
from motives of decency, as through that fickleness which 
pervaaes svery action of their lives." 

6 Saracens.] "This word, during the middle ages, was in- 
discriminately applied to Pagans and Mahometans ; in short, 
to all nations (except the Jews) who did not profess Chris- 
tianity." Mr. Ellis's Specimens of Early English Metrical 
Romances, vol i. p. 196, (a note ; ) Lond. 8vo. 18U5. 



346 THE VISION. 100-120 

But did they see, the shameless ones, what Heaven 
Wafts on swift wing toward them while I speak, 
Their mouths were oped for howling : they shall taste 
Of sorrow (unless foresight cheat me here) 
Or ere the cheek of him be clothed with down, 
Who is now rock'd with lullaby 1 asleep. 
Ah ! now, my brother, hide thyself no more : 
Thou seest 2 how not I alone, but all, 
Gaze, where thou veil'st the intercepted sun." 
Whence I replied : " If thou recall to mind 
What we were once together, even yet 
Remembrance of those days may grieve thee sore. 
That I forsook that life, was due to him 
Who there precedes me, some few evenings past, 
When she was round, who shines with sister lamp 
To his that glisters yonder," and I show'd 
The sun. " 'Tis he, who through profoundest night 
Of the true dead has brought me, with this flesh 
As true, that follows. From that gloom the aid 
Of his sure comfort drew me on to climb, 
And, climbing, wind along this mountain-steep, 
Which rectifies in you whate'er the world 
Made crooked and depraved. I have his word, 
That he will bear me company as far 
As till I come where Beatrice dwells : 
But there must leave me. Virgil is that spirit, 
Who thus hath promised," and I pointed to him ; 
r( The other is that shade, for whom so late 
Your realm, as he arose, exulting, shook 
Through every pendent cliff and rocky bound." . 



CANTO XXIV 



ARGUMENT. 

Forese points out several others by nam6 who are here, like 
himself, purifying themselves from the vice of gluttony* 
and, among the rest, Buonaggiunta of Lucca, with whom 
our Poet converses. Forese then predicts the violent end 
of Dante's political enemy, Corso Donati ; and, when he 
has quitted them, the Poet, in company with Statius and 
Virgil, arrives at another tree, from whence issue voices 

1 With lullaby.'] 

Colui che mo si consola con nanna. 
* Nanna" is said to have been the sound with which the Flo- 
rentine women hushed their children to sleep. 

2 Thou seest.] Thou seest how we wonder thai thou art 
here in a living body. 



H20. PURGATORY, Canto XXIV. 347 

that record ancient examples of gluttony ; and proceeding 
forwards, they are directed by an angel which way to 
ascend to the next cornice of the mountain. 

Our journey was not slacken'd by our talk, 
Nor yet our talk by journeying. Still we spake, 
And urged our travel stoutly, like a ship 
When the wind sits astern. The shadowy forms, 
That seenrd things dead and dead again, drew in 
At their deep-delved orbs rare wonder of me, 
Perceiving I had life ; and I my words 
Continued, and thus spake : " He journeys 1 up 
Perhaps more tardily than else he would, 
For others' sake. But tell me, if thou know'st, 
Where is Piccarda*' 2 Tell me, if I see 
Any of mark, among this multitude 
Who eye me thus." — " My sister (she for whom, 
'Twixt beautiful and good, 3 I cannot say 
Which name was fitter) wears e'en now her crown, 
And triumphs in Olympus." Saying this, 
He added: " Since spare diet 4 hath so worn 
Our semblance out, 'tis lawful here to name 
Each one. This," and his finger then he raised, 
' Is Buonaggiunta, 5 — Buonaggiunta, he 

1 He journeys.] The soul of Statius perhaps proceeds more 
slowly, in order that he may enjoy as long as possible the 
company of Virgil. 

2 Piccarda.] See Paradise, Canto iii. 

3 ' Twixt beautiful and good.] 

Tra bella e onesta 

dual fu piu, lascib in dubbio. 

Petrarca, Son. Ripensando a quel. 

4 Diet.] Dieta. 

And dieted with fasting everv daw 

Spenser, F. Q., b. i. c. i. st. 211 
Spare fast thai oft with gods doth diet. 

Milton, 11 Penseroso 

^ Btunaggiunta.] Buonaggiunta Urbiciani, of Lucca 
■ f here is a canzone by this poet, printed in the collection 
made by the Giunti, (p. 209,) and a sonnet to Guido Guini- 
: elli in that made by Corbinelli, (p. 169,) from which we col- 
lect that he lived not about 1230, as Cluadrio supposes, (t. ii. 
p. 159,) but towards the end of the thirteenth century Con- 
serning other poems by Buonaggiunta, that are preserved in 
MS. in some libraries, Crescimbeni may be consulted." Ti- 
raboschi, Mr. Mathias's ed., v. i. p. 115. Three of these, a 
canzone, a sonnet, and a ballata, have been published in the 
Anecdota Literaria ex MSS. Codicibus eruta„8vo. Roma, (no 
year,; v. iii. p. 453. He is thus mentioned by our author in 
his Treatise de Vulg. Eloq., lib. i. cap. xiii. "Next let us 
come to the Tuscans, who, made senseless by their folly, 
arrogantly assume to themselves the title of a vernacuhu 



348 the vision. 21-2* 

Of Lucca : and that face beyond him, pierced 
Unto a leaner fineness than the rest, 
Had keeping of the church ; he was of Tours, 
And purges by wan abstinence away 
Bolsena's eels and cups of muscadel" 2 

diction, more excellent than the rest ; nor are the vulgar alone 
misled by this wild opinion, but many famous men have 
maintained it, as Guittone d' Arezzo, who never addicted him 
self to the polished style of the court, Buonaggiunta of Lucca, 
Gallo of Pisa, MinO Mocato of Sienna, and Brunetto of Flo 
rence, whose compositions, if there shall be leisure for exam- 
ining them, will be found not to be in the diction of the court, 
but in that of their respective cities." 

As a specimen of Buonaggiunta' s manner, the reader wil 
take the following Sonnet from CorbinelJi's Collection added 
to the Bella Mano : — 

dual uomo e in su la rota per Ventura, 
Non si rallegri, perche sia innalzato ; 
Che quando piii si mostra chiara, e pura, 
Allor si gira, ed hallo disbassato. 
E nullo prato ha si fresca verdura, 

Che li suoi fiori non cangino stato ; 
E questo saccio, che avvien per natura 
Piii grave cade, chi piii e montato. 
Non si dee uomo troppo rallegrare 

Di gran grandezza, ne tenere spene ; 
Che egli e gran doglia, allegrezza fallire : 
Anzi si debbe molto umiliare ; 

Non far soperchio, perche aggia gran bene , 
Che ogni monte a valle dee venire. 
La Bella Mano e Rime Antiche, ediz. Fircnze, 1715, p, 1?C 

What man is raised on Fortune's wheel aloft, 
Let him not triumph in his bliss elate ; 

For when she smiles with visage fair and soft, 
Then whirls she round, reversing his estate. 

Fresh was the verdure in the sunny croft, 

Yet soon the wither'd flowerets met their fate ; 

And things exalted most, as chanceth oft, 

Fall from on high to earth with ruin great. 

Therefore ought none too greatly to rejoice 
In greatness, nor too fast his hope to hold : 
For one, that triumphs, great pain is to fail. 

But l.nvly meekness is the wiser choice ; 

And he must down, that is too proud and bo'd : 
For every mountain stoopeth to the vale. 

1 He was of Tours.] Simon of Tours became pope with 
the titie of Martin IV. in 1281, and died in 1285. 

2 Bolsena^s eels and cups of muscadel.} The Nidobeatina 
edition and the Monte Cassino MS. agree in reading 

L'anguille di Bolsena in la vernaccia ; 
from which it would seem, that Martin the Fourth refined so 
much on epicurism as to have his eels killed by being put into 
the wine called vernaccia, in order to heighten their flavor. 
The Latin annotator on the MS. relates, that the folio wirg 
epitaph was inscribed on the sepulchre of the pope : 
Gaudent anguillae, quod mortuus hie jacet ille, 
Q,ui quasi morte reas excoriabat eas. 



26-45. PURGATORY, Canto XXIV 349 

He show'd me many others, one by one 
And all, as the}^ were named, seem'd well content 5 
For no dark gesture I discern'd in any. 
I saw, through hunger, Ubaldino 1 grind 
His teeth on emptiness ; and Boniface, 2 
That waved the crosier 3 o'er a numerous flook • 
I saw the Marquis, 4 who had time erewhile 
To swill at Forli with less drought ; yet so, 
Was one ne'er sated. I howe'er, like him 
That, gazing 'midst a crowd, singles out one, 
So singled him of Lucca ; for methought 
Was none amongst them took such note of me. 
Somewhat I heard him whisper of Gentucca: 5 
The sound was indistinct, and murmur'd there, 6 
Where justice, that so strips them, fix'd her sting. 

" Spirit !" said I, " it seems as thou wouldst fain 
Speak with me. Let me hear thee. Mutual wish 
To converse prompts, which let us both indulge." 

He, answering, straight began : " Woman is born, 
Whose brow no wimple shades yet, 7 that shall make 



1 Ubaldino.] Ubaldino degli Ubaldini, of Pila, in the Flor 
entine territory. 

2 Boniface.] Archbishop of Ravenna. By Venturi he is 
called Bonifazio de' Fieschi, a Genoese ; by Vellutello, the 
son of the above-mentioned Ubaldini; and by Landino, 
Francioso, a Frenchman. 

3 Crosier.} It is uncertain whether the word "rocco," in 
the original, means a tk crosier" or a " bishop's rochet," that 
is, his episcopal gown. In support of the latter interpreta- 
tion Lombard! cites Du Fresne's Glossary, article Roccus. 
u Rochettum hodie vocant vestem linteam epis :oporum . . . 
quasi parvum roccum ;" and explains the verse, 

Che pasturb col rocco molte genti : 

" who, from the revenues of his bishoprick, supported in 
luxury a large train of dependants." If the reader wishes to 
learn more on the subject, he is referred to Monti's Proposta, 
Under the word " Rocco." 

4 The Marquis.] The Marchese de' Rigogliosi, of Forli. 
When his butler told him it was commonly reported in the 
city that he did n Dthing but drink, he is said to have answered : 
" And do you teU them that I am always thirsty." 

5 Gentucca.] Of this lady it is thought that our Poet 
became enamored during his exile. See note to Canto 
xxxi. 56. 

6 There.] In the throat, the part in which they felt the 
torment inflicted by the divine justice. 

7 Wliose brow no wimple shades yet.] l ' Who has not yti 
assumed the dress of a woman." 

30 



350 THE VISION. 4& 56 

My citv please thee, blame it as they may. 1 
Go then with this forewarning. If aught else 
My whisper too implied, the event shall tell. 
But say, if of a truth I see the man 
Of that new lay the inventor, which begins 
With ' Ladies, ye that con the lore of love.'" " 2 

To whom I thus : " Count of me but as one, 
Who am the scribe of love ; that, when he breathes. 
Take up my pen, and, as he dictates, write.' 5 

" Brother !" said he, •'•' the hindrance which once 
The notary, 3 with Guittone 4 and myself. 



1 Blame it as they may.] See Hell, Canto xxi. 39. 

2 Ladies, ye that con the lore of love.] 

Donne ch' arete intelletto d'amore. 
The first verse of a canzone in our author's Yita Nuova. 

3 The notary.] Jacopo da Lentino, called the Notary, a 
poet of these times. He was probably an Apulian : for Dapce 
(De Vulg. Eloq., lib. i. cap. 1-2.) quoting a verse which belongs 
to a canzone of his, published by the Giunti, without men- 
tioning the writer's name, terms him one of " the illustrious 
Apulians," praefulgentes Apuli. See Tiraboschi. Mr. Ma- 
thias's edit. vol. i. p. 137. Crescirubeni (lib. i. Delia Volg. 
Poes., p. 72, 4to ed. 1696) gives an extract from one of his 
poems, printed in Allacci's Collection, to show that the whim- 
sical compositions called " Ariette," are not of modern in- 
vention. His poems have been collected among the Poeti 
del primo secolo della Lingua Italiana, 2 vol. 8vo. Firenze, 
1616. They extend from p. 249 to p. 319 of the first volume. 

4 Guittone.] Fra Guittone, of Arezzo, holds a 
guished place in Italian literature, as, besides his poems 
printed in the Collection of the Giunti, he has left a collec - 
tion of letters, forty in number, which afford the earliest 
specimen of that kind of writing in the language. They were 
published at Rome in 1743. with learned illustrations by 
Giovanni Bottari. He was also the first who gave to the 
sonnet its regular and legitimate form, a species of composi- 
tion in which not only his own countrymen, but many of the 
best poets in all the cultivated languages of modern Europe, 
have since so much delighted. 

Guittone, a native of Arezzo. was the son of Viva di Mi- 
chele. He was of the order of the "Frati Godenti." of which 
an account ma}- be seen in the notes to Hell, Canto xxiii. 
In the year 1293 he founded a monastery of the order ot 
Camaldoli, in Florence, and died in the following year. 
Tiraboschi, ibid. p. 119. L>ante, in the Treatise de Vulg. 
Eloq.. lib. i. cap. 13. (see note to v. 20, aoove.) and lib. ii. cap. 
6. blames him for preferring the plebeian to the more courtly 
style ; and Petrarch twice places him in the company of our 
Poet. Triumph of Love. cap. iv., and Son. Par. Sec. • Sen- 
nuccio mio." The eighth book in the collection of the old 
poets published by the Giunti in 1527, consists of sonnets and 
canzoni by Guittone. They are marked by a peculiar so- 
lemnity of manner, of which the ensuing sonnet will afford a 
proof and an example : 



S7-7C. PURGATORY, Canto XXIV. 351 

Short of that new and sweeter style 1 I hear, 
Is now disclosed : I see how ye your plumes [tion, 
Stretch, as the inditer guides them ; which, no cues* 
Ours did not. He that seeks a grace heyond, 
Sees not the distance parts one style from other." 
And, as contented, here he held his peace 

Like as the birds, 2 that winter near the Nile, 
In squared regiment direct their course, 
Then stretch themselves in file for speedier flight ; 
Thus all the tribe of spirits, as they turn'd 
Their visage, faster fled, nimble alike 
Through leanness and desire. And as a man, 
Tired with the motion of a trotting steed, 3 
Slacks pace, and stays behind his company, 



Gran piacer Signor mio, e gran desire 

Harei d'essere avanti al divin trono, 

Dove si prendera pace e perdono 

Di suo ben fatto e d'ogni suo fa Hire ; 
E gran piacer harei nor di sentire 

Quel la sonante troinba e quel gran suono, 

E d'udir dire : hora venuti sono, 

A chi dar pace, a chi crudel martire. 
Questo tutto vorrei caro signore ; 

Perche fia scritto a ciaschedun nel vol to 

Quel che gia tenne ascoso dentro al core : 
Allhor vedrete a la mia fronte avvolto 

Un brieve, che dira ; che '1 crudo amore 

l'er voi me prese, e mai non m' ha disciolto. 

Great joy it were to me to join the throng, 

That thy celestial throne, O Lord, surround, 
Where perfect peace and pardon shall be found, 
Peace for good doings, pardon for the wrong : 
Great joy to hear the vault of heaven prolong 
That everlasting trumpet's mighty sound, 
That shall to each award their final bound, 
Wailing to these, to those the blissful song. 
All this, dear Lord, were welcome to my soul. 
For on his brow then every one shall bear 
Inscribed, what late was hidden in the heart ; 
And round my forehead wreath'd a letter'd scroll 
Shall in this tenor my sad fate declare : 
" Love's bondman I from him might never part." 
Bottari doubts whether some of the sonnets attributed tc 
Crtiittone in the Rime Antiche are by that writer. See his 
notes to Lettere di Fra Guittone, p. 135. 

1 That new and sweeter st->f.s.] He means the style intro 
duced in our Poet's time. 

a The birds.] Hell, Canto v. 46 Euripides, Helena, 149^ 
and Statius, Theb., lib. v. 12. 

3 Tired with the motion of a trotting steed.] I have followed 
Venturi's explanation of this passage. Others understand 

di trottare e lasso, 

of the fatigue produced by running. 



352 THE VISION. 71-MB 

Till his o'erbreathed lungs keep temperaie time ; 
E'en so Forese let that holy crew 
Proceed, behind them lingering at my side. 
And saying : M When shall I again behold thee f" 

*'•' How long my life may last/ 3 said I, " I know not 
This Aiiow, how soon soever I return. 
My wishes will before me have arrived: 
Sithence the place. 1 where I am set to live. 
Is. day by day, more scoop' d of all its good ; 
And dismal ruin seems to threaten it." 

u Go now," he cried : " lo ! he, 2 whose guilt is most, 
Parses before my vision, dragg'd at heels 
Of an infuriate beast. Toward the vale, 
Where guilt hath no redemption, on it speeds. 
Each step increasing swiftness on the las: : 
Until a blow it strikes, that leaveth him 
A corse most vilely shatter'd. No Long 
Those wheels have yet to roll," (therewith his eyes 
Look'd up to heaven.) " ere thou slialt plainly see 
That which my words may not more plainly tell. 
I quit thee : time is precious here : I lose 
Too much, thus measuring my pace with tnine." 

As from a troop of well-rank'd chiv: 
One knight, more enterprising than the rest, 
Pricks forth at gallop, eager to display 
His prowess in the first encounter proved : 
So parted he from us, with lengthen'd strides : 
And left me on the way with those twain spirits. 
Who were such mighty marshals of the world. 

When he beyond us had so fled, mine eyes 
.So nearer reach" d him, than my thought his words : 
The branches of another fruit, thick hung. 



1 The plate.] Florence. 

2 He.] Corso Donati w he sov- 
ereignty of Florence. To escape the fury of bis fell 

zens, he fled away on horseback, but falling, was overtaken 
and slain. A. D. 1308. The contemporary •: u i rela- 

ting at length the circumstances of his "fate, add- - : hat he 
was one of the wisest and most valorous knights, the best 
speakei. the most expert statesman, the m 
enterprising man of his age in Italy, a comely knight and of 
graceful carriage, but very worldly, and in his time had 
formed many conspiracies in Florence, and e 
scandalous practices for the sake of attaining stal 
ship." G Villani, lib. viii. cap. 96. The character of 
is forcibly drawn by another :. his contemporaries, Dine 
Ccmpagni, lib. hi. Muratori, Her. Ital. Script., torn. ix. p. 523 
Guinone d'Arezzo's seventh Letter is addressed to him. I» 
's in verse. 



I0J-142. PURGATORY, Canto XXIV. 353 

And blooming fresh, appear'd. E'en as our steps 
Turn'd thither ; not far off, it rose to view. 
Beneath it were a multitude, that raised 
Their hands, and shouted forth I know not what 
Unto the boughs ; like greedy and fond brats, 
That beg, and answer none obtain from him, 
Of whom they beg ; but more to draw them on, 
He, at arm's length, the object of their wish 
Above them holds aloft, and hides it not. 

At length, as undeceived, they went their way 
And we approach the tree, whom vows and tears 
Sue to in vain ; the mighty tree. " Pass on, 
And come not near. Stands higher up the wood, 
Whereof Eve tasted: and from it was ta'en [came. 
This plant." Such sounds from midst the thicket? 
"Whence I, with either bard, close to the side 
That rose, pass'd forth beyond. " Remember," nex 
We heard, " those imblest creatures of the cloudy 1 
How they their twyfold bosoms, overgorged, 
Opposed in fight to Theseus : call to mind 
The Hebrews, 2 how, effeminate, they stoop'd 
To ease their thirst ; whence Gideon's ranks were 
As he to Madian 3 march'd adown the hills." [thinn'ii 

Thus near one border coasting, still we heard 
The sins of gluttony, with wo ere -while 
Reguerdon'd. Then along the lonely path, 
Once more at large, full thousand paces on 
We travelFd, each contemplative and mute. 

" Why pensive journey so ye three alone?" 
Thus suddenly a voice exclaim'd : whereat 
I shook, as doth a scared and paltry beast ; 
Then raised my head, to look from whence it came 

Was ne'er, in furnace, glass, or metal, seen 
So bright and glowing red, as was the shape 
I now beheld. " If ye desire to mount," 
He cried ; " here must ye turn. This way he goes 
Who goes in quest of peace." His countenance 
Had dazzled me ; and to my guides I faced 
Backward, like one who walks as sound directs. 

As when, to harbinger the dawn, springs up 

- Creatures of the clouds.] The Centaurs Ovid, Met., IW 
iii. fob. 4. 

2 The Hebrews.] Judges, vii. 

3 To Madian.] 

The matchless Gideon in pursuit 
Of Madian and her vanquish'd kings. 

Milton, Samson jQgomstes. 



354 THE VISION. .i3-i5! 

On ireshen'd wing the air of May, and breathes 
Of fragrance, all impregn'd with herb and flowers ; 
E'en such a wind I felt upon my front 
Blow gently, and the moving of a wing 
Perceived, that, moving, shed ambrosial smell : 
And then a voice : " Blessed are they, whom grace 
Doth so illume, that appetite in them 
Exhaleth no inordinate desire, 
Still hungering as the rule of temperance wills " 



CANTO XXV 



ARGUMENT. 

Virgil and Statins resolve some doubts that have arisen U 
the mind of Dante from what he had just seen. They al, 
arrive on the seventh and last cornice, where the sin of in 
continence is purged in fire ; and the spirits of those suffer 
ing therein are heard to record illustrious instances of 
chastity. 

It was an hour, when he who climbs, had need 
To walk uncrippled : for the sun 1 had now 
To Taurus the meridian circle left, 
And to the Scorpion left the night. As one, 
That makes no pause, but presses on his road, 
Whate'er betide him, if some urgent need 
Impel ; so enter' d we 2 upon our way, 
One before other ; for, but singly, none 
That steep and narrow scale admits to climb. 

E'en as the young stork lifteth up his wing 
Through wish to fly, yet ventures not to quit 
The nest, and drops it ; so in me desiia 
Of questioning my guide arose, and fell, 
Arriving even to the act that marks 
A man prepared for speech. Him all our haste 

1 The sun.j The sun had passed the meridian two hours, 
and that meridian was now occupied by the constellation of 
Taurus, to which as the Scorpion is opposite, the latter cob 
stellation was consequently at the meridian of night. 

2 So entered we.] 

Davanti a me andava la mia guida ; 
E poi io dietro per una via stretta 
Seguendo lei come mia. scorta fida. 

Frezzij 11 Quadrir., lib. ii. cap. 3. 
The good prelate of Foligno has followed our Poet so closely 
throughout this Capitolo, that it would be necessary to tran- 
scribe almost the whole of it in order to show how much lie 
has copied. These verses of his own may well be applied to 
Vim on the occasion. 



Ifr-48. PURGATORY, Canto XXV. 355 

Restrain'd not ; but thus spake the sire beloved : 
fi Fear not to speed the shaft, 1 that on thy lip 
Stands trembling for its flight." Encouraged thus, 
I straight began : " How there can leanness come, 3 
Where is no want of nourishment .0 feed ?"' 

" If thou," he answer'd, " hadst remember'd thee. 
How Meleager 3 with the wasting brand 
Wasted alike, by equal fires consumed ; 
This would not trouble thee : and hadst thou thought; 
How in the mirror 4 your reflected form 
With mimic motion vibrates ; what now seems 
Hard, had appear'd no harder than the pulp 
Of summer-fruit mature. But that thy will 
In certainty may find its full repose, 
Lo Statius here ! on him I call, and pray 
That he would now be healer of thy wound." 

" If, in thy presence, I unfold to him 
The secrets of heaven's vengeance, let me plead 
Thine own injunction to exculpate me." 
So Statius answer'd, and forthwith began : 
" Attend my words, O son, and in thy mind 
Receive them ; so shall they be light to clear 
The doubt thou ofFer'st. Blood, concocted well. 
Which by the thirsty veins is ne'er imbibed, 
And rests as food superfluous, to be ta'en 
From the replenish'd table, in the heart 
Derives efTectual virtue, that informs 



1 Fear not to speed the shaft.] " Fear not to utter the words 
that are already at the tip of thy tongue." 

IToAXu fx}v apriSTT^g 

TXu)(Tca fxoi ro^evfjiar ex €l vs fi *&v<*v 

KeXa&qaai. Pindar, Isth&l., v. GO. 

Full many a shaft of sounding rhyme 
Stands trembling on my lip 
Their glory to declare. 

2 How there can leanness come.] " How can spirits, that 
need not corporeal nourishment, be subject to leanness?'' 
This question gives rise to the following explanation of Sta- 
tius respecting the formation of the human body from the 
first, its junction with the soul, and the passage of the latter 
to another world. 

3 Meleager.] Virgil reminds Dante that, as Meleager was 
wasted away by the decree of the Fates, and not through 
want of blood: so by the divine appointment, there may be 
leanness where there is no need of nourishment. 

4 In the mirror.] As the reflection of a form in a mirror is 
modified in agreement with the modification of the form it- 
self: so the soul, separated from the earthly body, impresses 
the image or ghost of that body with its own affections 



356 THE VISION. 43-7^ 

The several tinman limbs, as being that 

Which passes through the veins itself to make them 

Yet more concocted it descends, where shame 

Forbids to mention : and from thence distills 

In natural vessel on another's blood. 

There each unite together : one disposed 

To endure, to act the other, through that power 

Derived from whence it came ;* and being met, 

It 'gins to work, coagulating first : 

Then vivifies what its own substance made 

Consist. With animation now indued. 

The active virtue (differing from a plant 

2s o further, than that this is on the way. 

And at its limit that) continues yet 

To operate, that now it moves, and feels. 

As sea-sponge' : clinging to the rock : and there 

Assumes the organic powers its seed convey'd. 

This is the moment, son ! at which the virtue. 

That from the generating heart proceeds, 

Is pliant and expansive : for each limb 

Is in the heart by forgeful nature plann'd. 

How babe 3 of animal becomes, remains 

For thy considering. At this point, more wise. 

Than thou, has err'd. 4 making the soul disjoin d 

From passive intellect, because he saw 

Xo organ for the tatter's use assign'd. 

" Open thy bosom to the truth that comes 
Know, soon as in the embryo, to the brain 
Articulation is complete, then turns 
The primal Clover with a smile of joy 
On such great work of nature ; and imbreathes 
Xew spirit replete with virtue, that what here 

1 From whence it came.] "From the heart," as LombaicL 

lightly interprets it. 

2 As sea-spovge.] The fetus is in this stage a zoophyte. 

3 Babe.] By "fante," which is here rendered -'babe,''' is 

: "the human creature." "The creature that is dis 
tinguished from others by its faculty of speech," just as 
Homer calls men, 

yzizai fispdvav aidpw-iov. 

4 More wise, 

Than thou, has err'd.] Averroes is said to be here meant 
Venturi refers to his commentary on Aristotle, De Anim., 
lib. iii. cap. 5. for the opinion that there is only one universal 

ntellect or mind pervading every individual of the human 
race. Much of the knowledge displayed by our Poet in the 
present Canto, appears to have been derived from the medi- 
cal work of Averroes called the Colliget, lib. ii. f. 10 \eu 

490, l'ol 



"5-113. PURGATORY, Canto XXV. 357 

Active it finds, to its own substance draws ; 
And forms an individual soul, that lives, 
And feels, and bends reflective on itself. 
And that thou less mayst marvel at the word, 
Mark the sun's heat ;* how that to wine doth change^ 
Mix'd with the moisture filter'd through the vine, 

" When Lachesis hath spun the thread, 2 the soul 
Takes with her both the human and divine, 
Memory, intelligence, and will, in act 
Far keener than before ; the other powers 
Inactive all and mute. No pause allow'd, 
In wondrous sort self-moving, to one strand 
Of those, where the departed roam, she falls : 
Here learns her destined path. Soon as the place 
Receives her, round the plastic virtue beams, 
Distinct as in the living limbs before : 
And as the air, when saturate with showers, 
The casual beam refracting, decks itself 
With many a hue ; so here the ambient air 
Weareth that form, which influence of the soul 
Imprints on it : and like the flame, that where 
The fire moves, thither follows ; so, henceforth, 
The new form on the spirit follows still : 
Hence hath it semblance, and is shadow calFd, 
With each sense, even to the sight, endued : [sighs, 
Hence speech is ours, hence laughter, tears, and 
Which thou mayst oft have witnessed on the mount. 
The obedient shadow fails not to present 
Whatever varying passion moves within us. 
And this the cause of what thou marvell'st at." 

Now the last flexure of our way we reaclrd ; 
And to the right hand turning, other care 
Awaits us. Here the rocky precipice 
Hurls forth redundant flames ; and from the rim 
A blast up-blown, with forcible rebuff 
Driveth them back, sequester'd from its bound. 

Behooved us, one by one, along the side, 
That border' d on the void, to pass ; and I 
Feard on one hand the fire, on the other feard 

1 JIark the sun's heat.] Redi and Tiraboschi (Mr. Mathias's 
id., v. ii. p. 36) have considered this as an anticipation oi a 
profound discovery of Galileo's in natural philosophy ; but it 
is in reality taken from a passage in Cicero " de Senectute," 
where, speaking of the grape, he says, " qua?, et succo terra? et 
calore solis augescens, primo est peracerba gustatu, deinde 
maturata dulcescit." 

2 TVhen Lachesis hath spun the thread ] When a man'* 
kfe on earth is at an end 



358 THE VISION. 111-133 

Headlong to fall : when thus the instructor warii'd 

*'• Strict rein must in this place direct the eyes. 
A little swerving and the way is lost." 

Then from the bosom of the burning mass, 
** O God of mercy!" 1 heard I sung, and felt 
Xo less desire to turn And when I saw 
Spirits along the flame proceeding, I 
Between their footsteps and mine own was fain 
To share by turns my view. At the hymn's close 
They shouted loud, " I do not know a man ;" 2 
Then in low voice again took up the strain ; 
Which once more ended, " To the wood," they cried. 
"Ran Dian, and drave forth Callisto" stung 
With Cy there a's poison :" then return' d 
Unto their song ; then many a pair extoll'd, 
Who lived in virtue chastely and the bands 
Of wedded love. Nor from that task. I ween. 
Surcease they : whilesoe'er the scorching fire 
Enclasps them. Of such skill appliance needs, 
To medicine the wound that healeth last. 4 



CANTO XXVI. 

ARGUMENT 
The spirits wonder at seeing the shadow cast by the body of 
Dante on the flame as he passes it. This moves one of 

them to address him. It proves to be Guido Guinicelli. the 
Italian poet, who points out to him the spirit of Arnault 
Daniel, the Provencal, with whom he also speaks. 

While singly thus along the rim we walk'd, 
Oft the good master warivd me : " Look thou well. 
Avail it that I caution thee." The sun 
Now all the western clime irradiate changed 
From azure tinct to white : and. as I pass'd, 
My passing shadow made the umbtr'd flame 

1 " O God of merry/'] '■ Summce Dens clementiac." 

The beginning of the hymn sung on the Sabbath at matins, 
as it stands in the ancient breviaries ; for in the modern it is 
" sommsc parens dementias. 1 ' Lombardi. 

- I do not knoic a man.] Luke. i. 34. 

s Callisto.] See Ovid. Met., lib. ii. fab. 5. 

* The wound, that healeth last.] The marginal note in the 
Monte Cassino MS. on this passage is: u idest ultima litera 
quae denotat ultimum peccatum mortale ;" and the editor 
remarks, that Dante in these last two verses admonishes him- 
self, and in himself all those guilty of carnal sin. in what man- 
ner the wound, inflicted by it, and expressed by the last P. oa 
XiLs forehead, may be healed 



7-51. PURGATORY, Canto XXVI. 359 

Burn ruddier. At so strange a sight I mark'd 
That many a spirit marvell'd on his way. 

This bred occasion first to speak of me. 
" He seems," said they, u no insubstantial frame ." 
Then, to obtain what certainty they might, 
Stretch'd towards me, careful not to overpass 
The burning pale. " O thou ! who followest 
The others, haply not more slow than they, 
But moved by reverence ; answer me, who bum 
In thirst and fire : nor I alone, but these 
All for thine answer do more thirst, than doth 
Indian or iEthiop for the cooling stream. 
Tell us, how is it that thou mak'st thyself 
A wall against the sun, as thou not yet 
Into the inextricable toils of death 
Hadst enter'd ?" Thus spake one ; and I had straight 
Declared me, if attention had not turn'd 
To new appearance. Meeting these, there came, 
Midway the burning path, a crowd, on whom 
Earnestly gazing, from each part I view 
The shadows all press forward, severally 
Each snatch a hasty kiss, and then away. 
E'en so the emmets, 'mid their dusky troops, 
Peer closely one at other, to spy out 
Their mutual road perchance, and how they tin ,ve 

That friendly greeting parted, ere dispatch 
Of the first onward step, from either tribe 
Loud clamor rises : those, who newly come, 
Shout ' ; Sodom and Gomorrah !" these, " The cow 
Pasiphos enter'd, that the beast she woo'd 
Might rush unto her luxury." Then as cranes, 
That part towards the Riphsean mountains fly, 
Part towards the Lybic sancb, these to avoid 
The ice, and those the sun ; so hasteth off 
One crowd, advances the other : and resume 
Their first song, weeping, and their several shout. 1 

Again drew near my side the very same, 
Who had erewhile besought me ; and their looks 
Mark'd eagerness to listen. I, who twice 
Their will had noted, spake : " O spirits ! secure, 
Whene'er the time may be, of peaceful end ; 
My limbs, nor crude, nor in mature old age, 
Have I left yonder : here they bear me, fed 
With blood, and sinew-strung. That I no more 
May live in blindness, hence I tend aloft. 

1 Their first song, ueeping, and their several shout. \ Scfl 
(he last Canto, v. 118, and v. 123. 



360 THE VISION. 52-83 

There is a dame on high, who wins for us 

This grace, by which my mortal through your realm 

I bear. But may your utmost wish soon meet 

Such full fruition, that the orb of heaven, 

Fullest of love, and of most ample space, 

Receive you ; as ye tell (upon my page 

Henceforth to stand recorded) who ye are ; 

And what this multitude, that at your backs 

Have pass'd behind us." As one, mountain-bred, 

Rugged and clownish, if some city's walls 

He chance to enter, round him stares agape, 

Confounded and struck dumb : e'en such appeared 

Each spirit. But when rid of that amaze, 

(Xot long the inmate of a noble heart, 1 ) 

He, who before had question'd, thus resumed : 

M O blessed ! who, for death preparing, takest 

Experience of our limits, in thy bark : 

Their crime, who not with us proceed, was that 

For which, as he did triumph, Caesar 2 heard [cry 

The shout of •' queen,' to taunt him. Hence their 

Of e Sodom,' as they parted ; to rebuke 

Themselves, and aid the burning by their shame 

Our sinning was Hermaphrodite : but we, 

Because the law of human kind we broke, 

Following like beasts our vile concupiscence, 

Hence parting from them, to our own disgrace 

Record the name of her, by whom the beast 

In bestial tire was acted. Now our deeds 

Thou know'st, and how we sinn'd. If thou bv name 



Amaze, 



(S\"ot long the inmate of a noble heart.)] 
stupore 

Lo qual negli alti cor tosto s'attuta. 
Thus Speroni : 

lo stupore 

Lo qual dagli alti cor tosto si parte. Canacc. 

He does not say that wonder is not natural \d a lofty min^ 
for it is the very principle of knowledge. ^d'Xa yap <pi\o- 
e6<pov toito rb trddos, to QavjiaXtiv^ ov yap a\\ij apxi 
<pi>0 70<pias r, airy). Plato. Thecet. Edit. Bipont., torn. ii. p. 76 , 
but that it is not of long continuance in such a mind. On 
this subject it is well said by Doctor Horsley : " Wonder, 
connected with a principle of rational curiosity, is the source 
of all knowledge and discovery, and it is a principle even of 
piety: but wonder, which ends in wonder, and is satisfied 
with wonder, is the quality of an idiot." Sermons, vol. i. p 
2-27. Compare Aristotle. Metaph., lib. i. p. 335, Edit. Sylb. 
The above passage from Piato is adduced by Clemens Alex- 
and., Strom., lib. ii. sect. 9. 

2 Ccesar.] For the opprobrium cast on Caesar's effeminacy 
*ee Suetonius, Julius Caesar, c. 49. 



8 J ill PURGATORY, Canto XX VI. 361 

Wouldst haply know us, time permits not now 

To tell so much, nor can I. Of myself 

Learn what thou wishest. Guinicelli 1 I ; 

Who having truly sorrow'd ere my last, 

Already cleanse me." With such pious joy, 

As the two sons upon their mother gazed 

From sad Lycurgus 2 rescued ; such my joy 

(Save that I more repress'd it) when I heard 

From his own lips the name of him pronounced, 

Who was a father to me, and to those 

My betters, who have ever used the sweet 

And pleasant rhymes of love. So naught I heard, 

Nor spake ; but long time thoughtfully I went, 

Gazing on him ; and, only for the fire, 

Approach'd not nearer. When my eyes were fed 

By looking on him ; with such solemn pledge, 

As forces credence, I devoted me 

Unto his service wholly. In reply 

He thus bespake me : " What from thee I hear 

Is graved so deeply on my mind, the waves 

Of Lethe shall not wash it off, nor make 

A whit less lively. But as now thy oath 

Has seal'd the truth, declare what cause impels 

That love, which both thy looks and speech bewray/' 

" Those dulcet lays," I answer'd ; " which, as long 
As of our tongue the beauty does not fade, 
Shall make us love the very ink that traced them." 

" Brother !" he cried, and pointed at the shade 
Before him, " there is one, whose mother speech 
Doth owe to him a fairer ornament. 
He 3 in love ditties, and the tales of prose, 

1 Guinicelli.] See Note to Canto xi. 96. 

2 Lycurgus.] Statius, Theb., lib. iv. and v. Hypsipile had 
left her infant charge, the son of Lycurgus, on a bank, where 
it was destroyed by a serpent, when she went to show the 
Argive army the river of Langia: and, on her escaping the 
effects of Lycurgus's resentment, the joy her own children 
felt at the sight of her was such, as our Poet felt on behold- 
ing his predecessor Guinicelli. 

The incidents are beautifully described in Statius, and seem 
to have made an impression on Dante, for he before (Canto 
xxii. 110) characterizes Hypsipile as her — 
Who show'd Langia's wave. 

3 He.] The united testimony 7 of Dante, and of Petrarch, 
places Arnault Daniel at the head of the Provencal poets. 

poi v'era un drappello 

Di portamenti e di volgari strani : 
Fra tutti il primo Arnaldo Daniello 
Gran maestro d'amor ch' a la sua terra 
Ancor fa onoi col suo dir nuovo e beliu. 

Petrarca, Trionfo &\imore y c. i¥ 



360 THE VISION. in 

Without n rival stands ; and lets the fc o's 

That he was born of poor bat noble parents, at the castle of 
Ribeyrac in Perigord, and that he was at the English court, is 
the amount of Millot's information concerning him, (torn, ii 
i . #79. The account there given of his writings is not much 
more satisfactory, and the criticism on them must go for little 
tetter than nothing. It is to be regretted that we have not an 
opportunity of judging for ourselves of his u love ditties and 
his tales of prose.*' 

Versi d*amore e prose di romanzi 
C'v.r ?:i- :':ec"rr.:'.y ci:>rs hir/: i:i :hf v.-;:k Pe Yuizari EI«> 
qnio. In the second chapter of the second book, he is in- 
stanced as one " who had treated of love ;" and in the tenth 
c;--.v:t:. he is s.-.i_; ::> h-vr used in. r-.i:::v-; ■"-.'.. "u.s c-.-.nz ■-■::'. ?. 
particular kind of stanza, the sestine, which Dante had fol- 
lowed in one of his own canzoni, begmning, 

Al poco giorno ed al gran cerchio d'ombra. 
This stanza is termed by Gray, " both in sense and sound, a 
rery mean composition." Gray's Works, 4h Loi 
vol. ii. p. 23. According : GresVambeni, (Delia Yolg. Poes„ 

7. ed. 10.^.. headed ir. 1159. Arnault Daniel was not 
soon forgotten; for Ausias March, a Catalonia: 
himself distinguished as a Provencal poet in the middle of the 
fifteenth century, makes honorable mention of him in some 
verses, which are quoted by Bastero in his Crusca Proven 
zale, Ediz.Boma. 1734, p. 75. 

E.-.vfrs ^ijun- :-.c~ !yd:v:ie 7>ir : 

M"-.s sin's lueu-.br.uri <i"en Arn-iu Daniel 

E de aquels que la terra los es vel, 

5i .-'.;•:■;"/. A ::"..: v-fi's r..s :ue ;:-:; .i^: n -\r. 

To some this seems a miracle to be ; 

But if we Arnault Daniel call to mind, 

And those beside, whom earthly veil doth bind, 

We then the mi_ love sh ill 

Since this note was written, M. Raynouard has made us 
better acquainted with the writings and history of the Pro- 
vencal poets. I have much pleasure in citing the following 
particulars respecting Arnault Daniel from his Choix des Po 
esies des Troubadours, torn. ii. pp. 318, 319. 

" L'autorite de Dante suffirait pour nous convaincre qu* Ar 
naud Daniel avait compose plusieurs romans. Mais il reste 
ane preuve positive de Texistence d'nn roman d'Arnaud 
Daniei : e'est eel nl de Lancelot du Lac, dont la traduction fnt 
faite, vers la fin du treizieme siecle, en allemand. par Ulrich 
de Z :c mtschoven, qui nomine Arnaud Daniel comme rautetu 
::._• uil."* 

"Le Tasse, flans Pun de ses ouvrages* s'exprime en cts 

rmes, au sujet des romans composes par les troubadours : 
■E r:rji_::zi :'u::r.e de::: cue: p:-:i:.i. o piii :os:o cu-:iie 



' J Des eii:Ai;s \u ext 

pal"':, ?-. 
(*) Discorso sopra il parere fatto del Signor Fr. Patricio, etc 

t^ : :".:. torn, iv.'p. CIO, 



113 PURGATORY, Canto XXVI. 3f 3 

Talk on, who think the songster of Limoges 1 

Istoric favolose, che furono scritte nella lingua de' Provenzali 
o de' Castigliani ; le quali non si scrivevano in versi, ma in 
prosa, come alcuni hanno osservato prima da me, perch**} 
Dante, pariando d'Arnaldo Daniello, disse : 

Versi d'amore e prose di romanzi, etc. 
Enfin Pulci, dans son Morgante Maggiore, nomme Arnaud 
Daniel comme auteur d'un roman de Renaud : 

Dopo costui venne il famoso Arnaldo 

Che molto diligentemente ha scritto, 

E investigb le opre di Rinaldo, 

De le gran cose che fece in Egitto, etc." 

Morgante Maggiore, Canto xxvii. ott. SO 
See also Raynouard, torn. v. 30. 

1 The songster of Limoges.] Giraud de Borneil, of Sideuil 
a castle in Limoges. He was a Troubadour, much admired 
and caressed in his day, and appears to have been in favor 
with the monarchs of Castile, Leon, Navarre, and Aragon. 
Giraud is mentioned by Dante in a remarkable passage of the 
De Vulg. Eloq., lib. ii. cap. 2. "As man is endowed with a 
triple soul, vegetable, animal, and rational, so he walks in a 
triple path. Inasmuch as he is vegetable, he seeks utility, 
in which he has a common nature with plants; inasmuch as 
he is animal, he seeks for pleasure, in which he participates 
with brutes ; inasmuch as he is rational, he seeks for honor, 
in which he is either alone, or is associated with the angels. 
Whatever we do, appears to be done through these three 
principles," &c. — "With respect to utility, we shall find on a 
minute inquiry that the primary object with all who seek it, 
is safety ; with regard to pleasure, love is entitled to the first 
place; and as to honor, no one will hesitate in assigning th6 
same pre-eminence to virtue. These three then, safety, love, 
virtue, appear to be three great subjects, which ought to 
be treated with most grandeur ; that is, those things which 
chiefly pertain to these, as courage in arms, ardency of love, 
and the direction of the will : concerning which alone we 
shall find on inquiry that illustrious men have composed 
their poems in the vernacular tongues : Bertrand de Born, of 
arms ; Arnault Daniel, of love ; Giraud de Borneil, of recti- 
tude ; Cino da Pistoia, of love; his friend," (by whom he 
means himself.) " of rectitude ; but I find no Italian as yet 
who has treated of arms." Giraud is again quoted in the 
sixth chapter ot this book. The following notice respecting 
him is found in Gray's posthumous Works, 4to. Lond. 1814 
vol. ii. p. 23. " The canzone is of very ancient date, the in- 
vention of it being ascribed to Girard de Borneil of the school 
of Provence, who died in 1178. He was of Limcges, and was 
called II Maestro de' Trovatori." That he was distinguished 
by this title (a circumstance that, perhaps, induced Dante to 
vindicate the superior claims of Arnault Daniel) is mentioned 
by Bastero in his Crusca Provenzale, Ediz. Roma, p. 84, where 
we find the following list of his MS. poems preserved in the 
Vatican, and in the library of S. Lorenzo at Florence. " Una 
tenzone col Re d' Aragona ; e un Serventese contra Cardaillac, 
e diverse Canzoni massimamente tre pel ricuperamento del 
S. Sepolcro, o di Terra Santa, ed alcune col titolo di Cante- 
rete, eioe picciole cantari, ovvero canzonette." The light 
Which these and similar writings might cast, not only on the 



304 THE VISION r. 4-132 

O'ertops him. Rumor and the popular voice 

They look to, more than truth ; and so confirm 

Opinion, ere by art or reason taught. 

Thus many of the elder time cried up 

Guittone, 1 giving him the prize, till truth 

By strength of numbers vanquished. If thou own 

So ample privilege, as to have gain'd 

Free entrance to the cloister, whereof Christ 

Is Abbot of the college ; say to him 

One paternoster for me, far as needs 2 

For dwellers in this world, where power to sin 

No longer tempts us." Haply to make way 

For one that follow'd next, when that was said, 

He vanish' d through the fire, as through the -wave 

A fish, that glances diving to the deep. 

I, to the spirit he had shown me, drew 
A little onward, and besought his name, 
For which my heart, I said, kept gracious room. 
He frankly thus began : " Thy courtesy 3 

events, but still more on the manners of a most interesting 
period of history, would surely, without taking into the ac- 
count any merit they may possess as poetical compositions, 
render them objects well deserving of more curiosity than 
they appear to have hitherto excited in the public mind. 
Many of his poems are still remaining in MS. According to 
Nostradamus he died in 1278. Millot, Hist. Litt. des Troub., 
torn. ii. p. 1, and 23. But I suspect that there is some error 
in this date, and that he did not live to so late a period. 
Borne of his poems have since been published by Raynouard 
Poesies des Troubadours, torn. iii. p. 304, &c. 
i Guittone.] See Canto xxiv. 56. 

2 Far as needs.'] See Canto xi. 23. 

3 Thy courtesy.] Arnault is here made to speak in his own 
tongue, the Provencal. According to Dante, (De Vulg. Eloq., 
lib. i. c. 8,) the rrovencal was one language with the Span- 
ish. What he says on this subject is so curious, that the 
reader will perhaps not be displeased if I give an abstract 
of it. 

He first makes three great divisions of the European Ian 
guages. " One of these extends from the mouths of the 
Danube, or the lake of Mreotis, to the western limits of Eng- 
land, and is bounded by the limits of the French and Italians, 
and by the ocean. One idiom obtained over the whole of 
this space : but was afterwards subdivided into the Sclavo- 
nian, Hungarian, Teutonic, Saxon, English, and the vernacu- 
lar tongues of several other people, one sign remaining to 
all, that they use the affirmative io, (our English ay.) The 
whole of Europe, beginning from the Hungarian limits and 
stretching towards the east, has a second idiom, which 
reaches still further than the end of Europe, into Asia. This 
is the Greek. In all that remains of Europe, there is a third 
idiom, subdivided into three dialects, which may be severally 
distinguished by the use of the affirmatives, &c, ail, and si 



J3*J,134. PURGATORY, Caxto XXVI. 365 

80 wins on me, I have nor power nor will 
To hide me. I am Arnault ; and with songs, 



the first spoken by the Spaniards, the next by the French, 
the third by the Latins, (or Italians.) The first occupy the 
western part of southern Europe, beginning from the limits 
of the Geneose. The third occupy the' eastern part from the 
said limits, as far, that is, as to the promontory of Italy, 
where the Adriatie sea begins, and to Sicily. The second 
are in a manner northern, with respect to "these, for they 
have the Germans to the east and north, on the west they 
are mounded by the English sea and the mountains of Aia- 
gon, and on the south by the people of Provence and the 
declivity of the Apennine." 

Ibid. ex. "Each of these three," he observes, "has its 
own claims to distinction. The excellency of the French 
language consists in its being best adapted, on account of its 
facility and agreeableness, to prose narration, (quicquid re- 
daetum, sive inventum est ad vulgare prosaicum, strain est :) 
and he instances the books compiled on the gests of the Tro- 
jans and Romans, and the delightful Adventures of King 
Arthur, with many other histories and works of instruction. 
The Spanish (or Provencal) may boast of its having pro- 
duced such as first cultivated in this, as in a more perfect 
and sweet language, the vernacular poetry : among whom 
are Fierre d'Auvergne, and others more ancient. The privi- 
leges of the Latin, or Italian, are two; first, that it may 
reckon for its own those writers who have adopted a more 
sweet and subtile style of poetry, in the number of whom are 
Cino da Pistoia and his friend ; and the next, that its writers 
seem to adhere to certain general rules of grnmmar, and in 
so doing give it, in the opinion of the intelligent, a very 
weighty pretension to preference." Since the last edition of 
this book, it has appeared that Mr. Gray understood by the 
words " Grammatical, quae communis est;'* "the Latin or 
mother-tongue," and not, as I have rendered them, M general 
rules of grammar." In this latter sense, however, the word 
" Grammatica" has been used twice before in the Treatise de 
Vulg. Eloq.. though it is certainly afterwards applied in the 
sense in which Gray took it. See the edition of Gray's 
Woiks, for which we* are so much indebted to Mr. Mathias, 
4to. London, 1614. vol. ii. p. 35. We learn from our author's 
Vita Nuova, p. 258. that there were no poetic compositions 
in the Provencal or Italian, more than one hundred and fifty 
years brfore the Vita Nuova was written; and that the first 
who w/ote in the vernacular languages, wrote to make him 
self understood by a lady. M. Raynouard supposed the tex* 
of all the editions' to be miserably corrupted in this place, and 
took much pains to restore it. I will add the passage as tha< 
learned writer concluded it to have come from the hand of 
Dante : — 

"Tan m'abellis vostre cortes deman, 
Ch' ieu non me puese ni m voil a vos cobnre ; 
Jeu sui Arnautz, che pier e vai eantan ; 
Consiros, vei la passada follor, 
E vei jauzen lo joi qu'esper denan ; 
Aras vos prec, per aquella valor 
Que us guida a! som sens freich e sens caima, 
Sovegna vos arenprar ma dolor. 



366 THE VISION 135- Ul 

Sorely waymentiug- for my folly past. 
Thorough this lord of fire I wade, and see 
The day. I hope for. smiling in my view. 
I pray ye by the worth that guides ye up 
Unto the summit of the scale, in time 
Remember ye my siuTerings.'' With such words 
He disappear'd in the refining flame. 



CAXTO XXVII. 



ARGUMENT. 

An angel sends them forward through the fire to the last 
ascent, which leads to the terrestrial Paradise, situated on 
the summit of the mountain. They have not proceeded 
many steps on their way upward, when the tali of night 
hinders them from going farther : and our Poet, who has 
Iain down with Virgil and Statin? to rest, beholds in a 
dream two females, figuring the active and contemplative 
l:ie. With the return of morning, they reach the height; 
and here Virgil gives Dante fail liberty to use his own 
pleasure and judgment in the choice of his way, till he 
shall meet with Beatrice. 

Xow was the sun 1 so station'd. as when first 
His early radiance quivers on the heights. 
Where stream'd his Maker's blood ; while Libra hangs 
Above Hesperian Ebro ; and new fires. 
Meridian, flash on Ganges' yellow tide. 

••Tant me plait votre conrtoise demande. — que je ne puis 
ni ne me veux a vous cacher: — je suis Arnaud. qui pleura 
Bt va chantant : — soucieux. je vois la passee folie. — et vois 
joyeux ie bonhenr, que j'espere a Pavenir; — maintenant je 
rous prie. par cette vertu — qui vous guide au soinmet. sans 
Brand et sans chaud : — qu'il souvienne a vous de soulager ma 
drtil cur. 

u 11 n'est pas tm des nomhreux mannscrits de la Divlna 
Commedia. pas line des editions multipliees qui en ont ete 
donn6es, qui ne presente dans les vers que Dante prete au 
troubadour Arnaud Daniel, un texte defigure et devenu. de 
eopie en copie. presque unintelligible. 

11 Cependant j'ai pense qu'il n'etait pas impossible de reta- 
hlii le texte 6e ces vers, en comparant avec soin, dans les 
mannscrits de Dante que possedent les depots publics de 
Paris, toutes les variante? qu'ils pouvaient fournir, et en les 
ehoisissant d'apres ies regies grarnmaticales ei les notions 
lexieographiques de la langue des troabadours. Mon espoil 
n'a point ete trompe, et sans ancnn secours conjectural, sans 
ancun deplacement ni changement de mot-, je suis parvenu, 
par le simple chcix des variantes. aretrouver le texte primitif 
tel qu'il a do etre prodnit par Dante.'' 

Rayncuard. Leiique Roman torn. i. p. xlii. 6°., Par. 1 Q 30 

J The sim.] At Jerusalem it was dawn, in Spain midnight, 
*»d in India noonday, while it was sunset in Purgatory. 



6-37. PURGATORY, Canto XXVII. 307 

So day was sinking, when the angel of Gcd 
Appear'd before ns. Joy was in his mien. 
Forth of the flame he stood upon the brink ; 
And with a voice, whose lively clearness far 
Surpass'd our human, " Blessed 1 are the pure 
In heart," he sang : then near him as we came, 
" Go ye not further, holy spirits !" he cried, 
" Ere the fire pierce you : enter in ; and list 
Attentive to the song ye hear from thence." 

I, when I heard his saying, was as one 
Laid in the grave. 2 My hands together clasp'd, 
And upward stretching, on the fire I look"d 
And busy fancy conjured up the forms 
Erewhile beheld alive consumed in flames. 

The escorting spirits turn'd with gentle looks 
Toward me ; and the Ma.ntuan spake : " My son, 
Here torment thou mayst feel, but canst not death 
Remember thee, remember thee, if I 
Safe e'en on Geryon brought thee ; now I come 
More near to God, wilt thou not trust me now I 
Of this be sure ; though in its womb that flame 
A thousand years contain'd thee, from thy head 
No hair should perish. If thou doubt my truth, 
Approach ; and with thy hands thy vesture's hem 
Stretch forth, and for thyself confirm belief. 
Lay now all fear, oh ! lay all fear aside. 
Turn hither, and come onward undismayed." 

I still, though conscience urged, no step advancea 

When still he saw me fix'd and obstinate, 
Somewhat disturb"d he cried : " Mark now, my son, 
From Beatrice thou art by this wall 
Divided." As at Thisbe's name the eye 



i Blessed.] Matt. v. 8. 

2 As one 

Laid in the grave.] 

Quale e colui che neiia fossa e messo. 
Lombardi understands this of a man who is taken to execu 
tion in the manner described in Hell, c xix. 52. " Colui,' 
he thinks, cannot be properly applied to a corse. Yet Boc 
caccio's imitation confirms the opinion of the other com 
mentators : — 

Essa era tale, a guardarla nel viso, 
dual donna morta alia fossa portata. 

// Filostrato, p. v. st. 83 
which Chaucer has thus translated : — 

She was right soche to sene in her visage, 
4s is that wight that men on bere 3-binde. 

Troilus and Creseide, b iv. 



36 S THE VISION. 3S-*i 

Of Pyi waen life ebb'd 

Fast from his veins and took one parting glance, 

While venneil dyed the mulberry ; 2 thus I turn'd 
To my sire guide, relenting, when I heard 
The name that springs for ever in my brr 

He shook his forehead : and, " How long." he said 
. t_ we now f 3 then smiled, as one would sir He 
Upon a child that eyes the fruit and yields. 
Into the fire before me then he walk'd : 
And Statins, who erewhile no little r: : \- 
Had parted us, he pray'd to come behind. 

I would have cast me into molten glass 
To cool me. when I enter'd : so intense 
Raged the conilagrant m; : sire beloved. 

To cc ni lit me, as he proceeded, 
Of Beatrice talk'd. '•' Her eyes." saith he, 
•• E'en now I seem to view." From the other side 
A voice, that sang, did guide us ; and the voice 
Following, with heedful ear, we issued forth, [heard. 
t where the path led upward. •'•' Come." 2 we 
•■ Come, blessed of my Father." Such the sounds. 
That kaiTd us from within a light, which shone 
So radiant, I could not endure the view. 
ij The sun,'" it added, •'■' hastes : and evening comes. 
Delay not : ere the western sky is hung 
With blackness, strive ye for the pass.''' Our w 
Upright within the rock arose, and faced 
Such part of heaven, that from before m 
The beams were shrouded of the sinking sun. 

2s"or many stairs were overpast, when now 
By fading of the shadow we perceived 
The sun behind us couch'd ; and ere one face 
Of dar^::ess o'er its measureless 
Involved the horizon, and the night her lot 
Held individual, each of us had made 
A stair his pallet : not that will, but power, 
Had fail'd us, by the nature of that mount 
Forbidden further travel. As the goats. 
That late have skipp'd andwanton'd rapid 
Upon the craggy cliffs, ere they had ta'en 
Their supper on the herb, now silent lie 
And ruminate beneath the umbrage brown, 
While noonday rages : and the goatherd leans 
Upon his start, and leaning watches them : 

- jr It id Metam., Ilk 

v. 125. 
* Com:.. Matt xsr 34. 



52-117. PURGATORY, Canto XXVII. 369 

And as the swain, that lodges out all night 
In quiet by his flock, lest beast of prey 
Disperse them : even so all three abode, 
I as a goat, and as the shepherds they, 
Close pent on either side by shelving rock. 

A little glimpse of sky was seen above .; 
Yet by that little I beheld the stars, 
In magnitude and lustre shining forth 
With more than wonted glory. As I lay s 
Gazing on them, and in that fit of musing, 
Sleep overcame me, sleep, that bringeth oft 
Tidings of future hap. About the hour, 
As I believe, when Venus from the east 
First lighten'd on the mountain, she whose orb 
Seems alway glowing with the fire of love, 
A lady young and beautiful, I dream'd, 
Was passing o'er a lea ; and, as she came, 
Methought I saw her ever and anon 
Bending to cull the flowers ; and thus she sang 
" Know ye, whoever of my name would ask, 
That I am Leah : 2 for my brow to weave 
A garland, these fair hands unwearied ply. 
To please me' 2 at the crystal mirror, here 
I deck me. But my sister Rachel, she 3 
Before her glass abides the livelong day, 
Her radiant eyes beholding", charm'd no less, 
Than I with this delightful task. Her joy 
In contemplation, as in labor mine." 

And now as glimmering dawn appear'd, that breaks 
More welcome to the pilgrim still, as he 
Sojourns less distant on his homeward way, 
Darkness from all sides fled, and with it fled 
My slumber ; whence I rose, and saw my guide 
Already risen. " That delicious fruit, 
Which through so many a branch the zealous care 
Of mortals roams in quest of, shall this day 



1 I am Leah.] By Leah is understood the active life, as 
Ra-chel figures the contemplative. Michel Angelo has made 
these allegorical personages the subject of two statues on the 
monument of Julius II. in the church of S. Pietro in Vincolo. 
See Mr. Duppa's Life of Michel Angelo, Sculpture viii. andx., 
and p. 247. 

a To please me.] "For the sake of that enjoyment which 
I shall have in beholding my Goti face to face, I thus exercise 
myself in good works." 

3 She.] " Her delight is in admiring in her mirror, that iSf 
in the Supreme Being, the light, or knowledge, that He vouch- 
safes her." 



370 THE VISION. 118-1-tf 

Appease thy hunger." Such the words I beard 
From Virgil's lip; and never greeting heard, 

So pleasant as the sounds. Within me straight 

Desire so grew upon desire to mount. 

Thenceforward at each step I felt the wings 

Increasing for my flight. When we had run 

O'er all the ladder to its topmost round. 

As there we stood, on me the Maniaan rix'd 

His eyes,, and thus he spake : •'■' Both tires, my ?oa, 

The temporal and eternal, thou hast seen j 

And art arrived, where of itself my ken 

X~o further reaches. I. with skill and art. ■ 

Thus far have drawn thee. Now thy pleasure taks 

For guide. Thou hast o'eicome the steeper way a 

O r ercome the straiter. Lo ! the sun., that darts 

His beam upon thy forehead: lo ! the herb, 1 

The arborets and flowers, which of itself 

This land pours forth profuse. Till those bright eyes 5 

With gladness come, which, weeping, made me haste 

To succor thee, thou mayst or seat thee down. 

Or wander where thou wilt. Expect no m 

Sanction of warning voice or sign from me. 

Free of thy own arbitrament to choose. 

Discreet, judicious. To distrust thy sense 

Were henceforth error. I invest thee then 

With crown and mitre, sovereign o'ei thysel£ w 



C A X T O XXVIII 



ARGUMENT. 

Dante wanders through the forest of the terrestrial Paradise, 
till lie is stopped by a stream ithei sideof whicfc 

he beholds a fair lady, culling flowers. Re speaks : hei ; 
and. she. in reply, explains to him certain things touching 
the nature of that place, and tells that the water, which 
flows between them, is here called Lethe, and in anothel 
place has the name of Eunoe. 

i L,o! the herb.] "In alinm campum transit amaenissi: 
Ipse vero campus splendidus. sua vis ac dec 
nitudinis, quants glorice, quanteeque sit pal s, nulia 

lingua, nuilusque sermo, potest enarrare: pleims es: 
omni jucunditate, et gaudio, et l~;.::a. Dn liliunun, el 
rum odor, ibi odoramentorum omnium redolet rra: 
bi rrannae, omniumque eternarum dehciarnm redundat abun- 
£antL\. In hujus campi medio paradisus es;."' A 
Visio. % 20. 

2 Those bright eyes.] The eyes of Beatrice 



1-24. PURGATORY, Canto XXYIII. 371 

Through that celestial forest, whose thick shado 
With lively greenness the new-springing day 
Attemperd, eager now to roam, and search 
Its limits round, forthwith I left the bank ; 
Along the champain leisurely my way 
Pursuing, o'er the ground, that on all sides 
Delicious odor breathed. A pleasant air, 1 
That intermitted never, never veer'd, 
Smote on my temples, gently, as a wind 
Of softest influence : at which the sprays, 
Obedient all, lean'd trembling to that part 2 
Where first the holy mountain casts his shade ; 
Yet were not so disorder'd, but that still 
Upon their top the feather" d quiristers 3 
Applied their wonted art, and with full joy 
Welcomed those hours of prime, and warbled e'arill 
Amid the leaves, that to their jocund lays 
Kept tenor ; even as from branch to branch, 
Along the piny forests on the shore 
Of Chiassi, 4 rolls the gathering melody, 
When Eolus hath from his cavern loosed 
The dripping south. Already had my steps, 
Though slow, so far into that ancient wood 
Transported me, I could not ken the place 



A pleasant air.] 

Cantan fra i rami gli augelletti vaghi, 

Azzurri, e bianchi, e verdi, e rossi, e gialli ; 

Mornioranti ruscelli, e cheti laghi 

Di limpidezza vincono i cristalli. 

T-fna dole' aura, che ti par che vaghi 

A im modo sempre, e dal suo stil non falli, 

Facea si l'aria tremolar d'intorno, 

Che non potea nojar calor del giorno. 

Ariosto, Orl. Fur., c. xxxiv. st. 50. 
Therewith a winde, unnethe it might be less, 
Made in the levis grene a noise soft, 
Accordant to the foulis song on loft. 

Chaucer, The Assemble of Foules. 

* To that paH.] The west. 

* TJie feather d quiristers.] Imitated by Boccaccio, Fiam 
metta, lib. iv. " Odi i querali uccelli," &c. — " Hear the queru> 
rous birds plaining with sweet songs, and the boughs tremb- 
ling, and, moved by a gentle wind, as it were keeping tenof 
to their notes." 

4 Chiassi.] This is the wood where the scene of Boccac- 
cio's sublimest story (taken entirely from Elinaud, as I learn 
in the notes to the Decameron, Ediz. Giunti, 1573, p. 62) is 
laid. See Dec, G. 5. N. 8, and Dryden's Theodore andHono- 
ria. Our Poet perhaps wandered in it during his abode with 
£r.ido Novel io da Polenta- 



372 THE VISION. ~> B» 

Where I had enter'd ; when, behold ! my path 
Was bounded by a rill, which, to the left, 
With little rippling waters bent the grass 
That issued from its brink. On earth no wave 
How clean soe'er, that would not seem to have 
Some mixture in itself, compared with this, 
Transpicuous clear : yet darkly on it roll'd, 
Darkly beneath perpetual gloom, which ne'er 
Admits or sun or moonlight there to shine. 

My feet advanced not ; but my wondering eyes 
Pass'd onward, o'er the streamlet, to survey 
The tender May-bloom, flush'd through many a hue* 
In prodigal variety : and there, 
As object, rising suddenly to view, 
That from our bosom every thought beside 
With the rare marvel chases, I beheld 
A lady 1 all alone, who, singing, went, 
And culling flower from flower,* wherewith her way 
-Was all o'er painted. " Lady beautiful ! 
Thou, who (if looks, that use to speak the heart, 
Are worthy of our trust) with love's own beam 
Dost warm thee," thus to her my speech I framed ; 
•'•' Ah ! please thee hither towards the streamlet bend 
Thy steps so near, that I may list thy song. 
Beholding thee and this fair place, methinks. 
I call to mind where wander'd and how look'd 
Proserpine, hi that season, when her child 
The mother lost, and she the bloomy spring." 

As when a lady, turning hi the dance, 
Doth foot it featly, and advances scarce 
One step before the other to the ground ; 
Over the yellow and vermilion flowers 
Thus turn'd she at my suit, most maiden-like, 
Veiling her sober eyes ; and came so near, 
That I distinctly caught the dulcet sound. 
Arriving where the limpid waters now 

i A lady.] Most of the commentators suppose, that by 
this lady, who in the last Canto is called Matilda, is to be 
understood the Countess Matilda, who endowed the holy see 
with the estates called the Patrimony of St. Peter, and died 
in 1115. See G. Villani, lib. iv. cap. xx. But it seems more 
probable that she should be intended for an allegorical per- 
sonage. Venturi accorlingly supposes that she represents 
the active life. But, as Lombardi justly* observes, we have 
had tkat already* shadowed forth in the character of Leah; 
and he therefore suggests, that by Matilda may be understood 
that affection which we ought to bear towards the holy 
church, and for which the lady above mentioned was so tv 
fnarkable. 



6MC0. PURGATORY, Canto XXVIII. 373 

Laved the green swerd, her eyes she deign'd to raise, 

That shot such splendor on me, as I ween 

Ne'er glanced from Cytherea's, when her son 

Had sped his keenest weapons to her heart. 

Upon the opposite bank she stood and smiled : 

As through her graceful fingers shifted still 

The intermingling dyes, which without seed 

That lofty land unbosoms. By the stream 

Three paces only were we sunder'd : yet, 

The Hellespont, where Xerxes pass'd it o'er, 

(A curb for ever to the pride of man, 1 ) 

Was by Leander not more hateful held 

For floating, with inhospitable wave, 

'Twixt Sestus and Abydos, than by me 

That flood, because it gave no passage thence. 

" Strangers ye come ; and haply in this place*. 
That cradled human nature in her birth, 
Wondering, ye not without suspicion view 
My smiles : but that sweet strain of psalmody, 
1 Thou, Lord ! hast made me glad/' 2 will give ye light, 
Which may uncloud your minds. And thou, who 

stand'st 
The foremost, and didst make thy suit to me, 
Say if aught else thou wish to hear : for I 
Came prompt to answer every doubt of thine." 

She spake ; and I replied : " I know not how 3 
To reconcile this wave, and rustling sound 
Of forest leaves, with what I late have heard 
Of opposite report." She answering thus : 
" I will unfold the cause, whence that proceeds, 
Which makes thee wonder ; and so purge the cloud 
That hath enwrapp'd thee. The First Good, whose 
Is only in himself, created man, [joy 

For happiness ; and gave this goodly place, 
His pledge and earnest of eternal peace. 
Favor'd thus highly, through his own defect 
He fell ; and here made short sojourn ; he fell, 
And, for the bitterness of sorrow, changed 
Laughter unblamed and ever-new delight. 
That vapors none, exhaled from earth beneath, 
Or from the waters, (which, wherever heat 

1 A curb for ever to the pride of man.] Because Xerxes had 
been so humbled, when he was compelled to repass the llel- 

espont in one small bark, after having a little before crcfsed 
With a prodigious army, in the hopes of subduing Greece. 

2 Thou, Lord! hast made vie glad.] Psalmxcii.4. 

3 I know not how ] See Canto xxi. 45. 

32 



374 THE VISION. 101-iTi 

Attracts them, follow,) might ascend thus iar 

To vex man's peaceful state, this mountain rose 

So high toward the heaven, nor fears the rage 

Of elements contending ; J from that part 

Exempted, where the gate his limit bars. 

Because the circumambient air, throughout, 

With its first impulse circles still, unless 

Aught interpose to check or thwart its course ; 

Upon the summit, which on every side 

To visitation of the impassive air 

Is open, doth that motion strike, and makes 

Beneath its sway the umbrageous wood resound .* 

And in the shaken plant such power resides, 

That it impregnates with its efficacy 

The voyaging breeze, upon whose subtle plume 

That, wafted, flies abroad ; and the other land, 2 

Receiving, (as 'tis worthy in itself, 

Or in the clime, that warms it,) doth conceive ; 

And from its womb produces many a tree 

Of various virtue. This when thou hast heard. 

The marvel ceases, if in yonder earth 

Some plant, without apparent seed, be found 

To fix its fibrous stem. And further learn, 

That with prolific foison of all seeds 

This holy plain is filPd, and in itself 

Bears fruit that ne'er was pluck'd on other soi J 

" The water, thou behold'st, springs not from *'ein 
Restored by vapor, that the cold converts ; 
As stream that intermittently repairs 
And spends his pulse of life ; but issues forth 
From fountain, solid, undecaying, sure : 
And, by the will omnific, full supply 
Feeds whatsoe'er on either side it pours ; 
On this, devolved with power to take away 
Remembrance of offence ; on that, to bring 
Remembrance back of every good deed done. 
From whence its name of Lethe on this part ; 



i Of elements contending.} In the Dittamondo of Fa.zio 
Degli Uberti. 1. i. cap. xi.. there is a description of the terres 
trial Paradise, in which the poet has had Dante before him. 

2 T 7 ie other land.] The continent, inhabited by the living, 
an'i separated from Purgatory by the ocean, is affected (and 
that diversely, according to the nature of the soil, or the cli- 
mate) by a virtue, or efficacy, conveyed to it by the winds 
from plants growing in the terrestrial Paradise which is situ- 
ated on the summit of Purgatory ; and this is the cause why 
»ome plants are found on earth without any apparent seed lo 
produce them. 



138-153. PURGATORY Canto XXIX. 375 

On the other, Eunoe : both of which must first 

Be tasted, ere it work ; the last exceeding 

All flavors else. Albeit thy thirst may now 

Be well contented, if I here break off, 

No more revealing ; yet a corollary 

I freely give beside : nor deem my words 

Less grateful to thee, if the) T somewhat pass 

The stretch of promise. They, whose verse of yore 

The golden age recorded, and its bliss, 

On the Parnassian mountain, 1 of this place 

Perhaps had dream'd. Here was man guiltless ; here 

Perpetual spring, 2 and every fruit ; and this 

The far-famed nectar." Turning to the bards, 

When she had ceased, I noted in their looks 

A smile at her conclusion ; then my face 

Again directed to the lovely dame. 



CANTO XXIX 

ARGUMENT 
The lady, who in a following Canto is called Matilda, moves 
along the side of the stream in a contrary direction to the 
current, and Dante keeps equal pace with her on the oppo- 
site bank. A marvellous sight, preceded by music, appears 
in view. 

Singing, 3 as if enamor'd, she resumed 
And closed the song, with " Blessed they 4 whose sins 
Are cover'd." Like the wood-nymphs then, that 
Singly across the sylvan shadows ; one [tripp'd 

Eager to view, and one to 'scape the sun ; 
So moved she on, against the current, up 
The verdant rivage. I, her mincing step 
Observing, with as tardy step pursued. 

Between us not an hundred paces trod. 
The bank, on each side bending equally, 
Cave me to face the orient. Nor our way 
Far onward brought us, when to me at once 

1 On the Parnassian mountain.] 

In bicipili somniasse Parnasso. Perrius, Prol. 

2 Perpetual spring.] 

Ver erat sternum, placidique tepentibus auris 
Mulcebant zephyri natos sine semine flores. 



Flumina jam lactis, jam flumina nectaris ibant 

Ovid, Metam., lib. i. v. Ill 
Siyiging.] Cantava come fosse innamorata. 

Guido Cavalcanti, Poe.ti del primo secolo, v 2, p. 28S 
Blessed they.] Psalm xxxii. 1 



376 T HE VISION. l3-sl> 

She tum'd, and cried : " My brother . look, and 

And lo ! a sudden lustre ran across [hearken." 

Through the great forest on all parts, so bright, 

I doubted whether lightning were abroad ; 

But that, expiring ever in the spleen 

That doth unfold it, and this during still, 

And waxing still in splendor, made me question 

What it might be : and a sweet melody 

Ran through the luminous air. Then did I chide, 

With warrantable zeal, the hardihood 

Of our first parent ; for that there, where earth 

Stood in obedience to the heavens, she only, 

Woman, the creature of an hour, endured not 

Restraint of any veil, which had she borne 

Devoutly, joys, ineffable as these, 

Had from the first, and long time since, been mine. 

While, through that wilderness of primy sweets 
That never fade, suspense I walk'd, and yet 
Expectant of beatitude more high ; 
Before us, like a blazing fire, the air 
Under the green boughs glow'd ; and, for a song. 
Distinct the sound of melody was heard. 

O ye thrice holy virgins ! for your sakes 
If e'er I suffer'd hunger, cold, and watching, 
Occasion calls on me to crave your bounty. 
Now through my breast let Helicon his stream 
Pour copious, and Urania 1 with her choir 
Arise to aid me ; while the verse unfolds 
Things, that do almost mock the grasp of thought. 

Onward a space, what seem'd seven trees of gold 
The intervening distance to mine eye 
Falsely presented ; but, when I was come 
So near them, that no lineament was lost 
Of those, with which a doubtful object, seen 
Remotely, plays on the misdeeming sense ; 
Then did the faculty, that ministers 
Discourse to reason, these for tapers of gold 2 

i Urania.'] Landino observes, that intending to sing ot 
heavenly things, he rightly invokes Urania. Thus Milton : 
Descend from Heaven, Urania, by that name 
If rightly thou art call'd. P. L., b. vii. 1. 

2 Tapers of gold.] See Rev. i. 12. The Commentators are 
not agreed whether the seven sacraments of the Church, oi 
the seven gifts of the Spirit are intended. In his Convito, 
our author says : " Because these gifts proceed from ineffable 
charity, and divine charity is appropriated to the Holy Spirit, 
nence, also, it is that they are called gifts of the Holy Spirit, 
the which, as Isaiah distinguishes them, are seven.*' P. 189 



50-75. PURGATORY, Canto X.KIX. 377 

Distinguish ; and i' the singing trace the sound 
" Hosanna." Above, their beauteous garniture 
Flamed with more ample lustre, than the moon 
Through cloudless sky at midnight, in her noon. 

I turn'd me, full of wonder, to my guide ; 
And he did answer with a countenance 
Charged with no less amazement : whence my vie\f 
Reverted to those lofty things, which came 
So slowly moving towards us, that the bride 
Would have outstripp'd them on her bridal day. 

The lady call'd aloud : " Why thus yet burns 
Affection in thee for these living lights, 
And dost not look on that which follows them ?" 

I straightway mark'd a tribe behind them walk , 
As if attendant on their leaders, clothed 
With raiment of such whiteness, as on earth 
Was never. On my left, the watery gleam 
Borrow'd, and gave me back, when there I look'dj 
As in a mirror, my left side portray'd. 

When I had chosen on the river's edge 
Such station, that the distance of the stream 
Alone did separate me ; there I stay'd 
My steps for clearer prospect, and beheld 
The flames go onward, leaving, 2 as they went, 
The air behind them painted as with trail 
Of liveliest pencils ; 3 so distinct were mark'd 



1 The bride] 

E come va per via sposa novella 
A passi ran, e porta gli occhi bassi 
Con faccia vergognosa, e non favella. 

Frezzi, II Quadrir., lib. i. cap. 10 

2 Leaving.] 

Lasciando dietro a se l'aer dipinto. 
Che lascia dietro a se l'aria dipinta. 

Mr. Jlathia/s Ode to Mr. Nickels, 

Gray's Works, vol. i. p. 532. 

3 Pencils.] Since this translation was made, Perticari ha* 
affixed another sense to the word " penr.elli.' which he in- 
terprets " pennons" or " streamers." Monti, in his Pro- 
posta, highly applauds the discovery. The conjecture loses 
something of its probability, if we read the whole passage, 
not as Monti gives it, but as it stando in Landino's edition 
of 1454. 

Et vidi le fiamelle andar davante 
lasciando drieto a se lake dipinto 
che di tratti pennegli havea sembiante 

Siche li sopra rimanea distinto 
di sette liste tutte in que colori 
ouie fa larcho el sole &. delia elcinto 



3TS THE VISION. 76-90 

All those seven listed colors, 1 whence the sun 

Maketh his bow, and Cynthia her zone. 

These streaming gonfalons did flow beyond 

My vision ; and ten paces, 2 as I guess, 

Parted the outermost. Beneath a sky 

So beautiful, came four and twenty elders, 3 

By two and two, with flower-de-luces crown'cL 

All sang one song: " Blessed be thou 4 among 

The daughters of Adam ! and thy loveliness 

Blessed for ever !"' After that the flowers, 

And the fresh herblets, on the opposite brink. 

Were free from that elected race : as light 

In heaven doth second light, came after them 

Four 5 animals, each crown'd with verdurous leaf. 

With six wings each was plumed : the plumage lull 

Of eyes ; and the eyes of Argus would be such, 

Were they endued with life. Reader ! more rhyme* 

I will not waste in shadowing forth their form ' 

For other need so straitens, that in this 

I may not give my bounty room. But read 

Ezekiel : 6 for he paints them, from the north 

How he beheld them come by Chebar's flood, 

In whirlwind, cloud, and fire ; and even such 

As thou shalt find them character'd by him, 

1 Listed colors.] 

Di sette liste tntte in quei colori, &c. 

a bow 

Conspicuous with three listed colors srav, 

Milton. P.L.,b. xi..865. 

2 Ten paces.] For an explanation of the allegorical mean- 
ing of this mysterious procession, Venturi refers those, ''who 
would see in the dark," to the commentaries of Landino, 
Yellutello. and others; and adds, that it is evident the Poet 
has accommodated to his own fancy many sacred images in 
the Apocalypse. In Yassari's Life of Giotto, wc learn thac 
Dante recommended that book to his friend, as affording fit 
subjects for his pencil. 

3 Four and twenty elders.] " Upon the seats I saw four ana 
twenty elders sitting."' Rev. iv. 4. 

* Blessed be thou.] "Blessed art thou among women, and 
blessed is the fruit of thy womb." Luke, i. 4-2. 

5 Four.] The four evangelists. 

6 Eztkiel.] " And I looked, and behold, a whirlwind came 
out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and 
a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the 
color of amber, out of the midst of the fire. 

"Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four 
'riving creatures. And this was their appearance; they had 
the likeness of a man. 

••And every one had four faces, and ever}' one had foul 
ft'inss." Ezekiel. i. 4-6. 



100-117. PURGATORY, Canto XXIX. $79 

flere were they ; save as to the pennons : there, 
From him departing, John 1 accords with me. 

The space, surrounded by the four, enclosed 
A car triumphal : 2 on two wheels it came, 
Drawn at a Gryphon's 3 neck ; and he above 
Stretch'd either wing uplifted, 'tween the midst 
And the three listed hues, on each side, three ; 
So that the wings did cleave or injure none ; 
And out of sight they rose. The members, fai 
As he was bird, were golden ; white the rest, 
With vermeil iutervein'd. So beautiful 4 
A car, in Rome, ne'er graced Augustus' pomp, 
Or Africanus' : e'en the sun's itself 
Were poor to this ; that chariot of the sun, 
Erroneous, which in blazing ruin fell 
At Tellus' prayer 5 devout, by the just doom 
Mysterious of all-seeing Jove. Three nymphs, 6 
At the right wheel, came circling in smooth dance : 



1 John.] "And the four beasts had each of them six wings 
about him." Rev. iv. 8. " Alitor senas alas propter senarii 
numeri perfectionem positum arbitror; quia in sexta aetate, id 
est adveniente plenitudine temporum, haic Apostolus peracta 
commemorat ; in novissimo enim animali conclusit omnia." 
Primasii, Augustini discipuli, Episcopi Comment., lib. quinqui 
in Apocal., Ed. Basil, 1544. u With this interpretation it is 
very consonant that Ezekiel discovered in these animals only 
four wings, because his prophecy does not extend beyond the 
fourth age ; beyond that is the end of the synagogue and 
the calling of the Gentiles : whereas Dante beholding them 
in the sixth age, saw them with six wings, as did Saint John." 
Lombardi. 

2 A car triumphal.] Either the Christian church, or per- 
haps the Papal chair. 

3 Gryphon.] Under the gryphon, an imaginary creature, 
the fore-part of which is an eagle, and the hinder a lion, is 
shadoved forth the union of the divine and human nature i& 
Jesus Christ. 

1 So beautiful.] 

E certo quando Roma piii onore 
Di carro trionfale a Scipione 
Fece, non fu cotal, ne di splendore 
Passato fu da quello, il qual Fetone 
Abbandonb per soverchio tremore. 

Boccaccio, Teseide, lib. ix. st. 31 
Thus in the Quadriregio, lib. i. cap. 5. 
Mai vide Roma carro trionfante 
Q,uanto era questo bel, ne vedra uncuanco. 
5 Tellus'' prayer.] Ovid, Met., lib. ii. v. 279. 
* Three nymphs.] The three evangelical virtues : the first 
Charity, the next Hope, and the third Faith. Faith may be 
produced by charity, or charity by faith, but the inducements 
o hope must arise either from one or other of these. 



380 THE VISION. 115-Hi 

The one so ruddy, that her form had scarce 

Been known within a furnace of clear flame 5 

The next did look, as if the flesh and bones 

Were emerald : snow new-fallen seem'd the third. 

Now seem'd the white to lead, the ruddy now ; 

And from her song who led. the others took 

Their measure, swift or slow. At the other wheel. 

A band quaternion. 1 each in purple clad. 

Advanced with festal step. as. of them, : 

The re-: conducted f one. upon whose front 

Three eyes were seen. In rear of all this o-roup, 

Two old men 3 I beheld, dissimilar 

In raiment, but in port and gesture like. 

Solid and mainly grave ; of whom, the one 

Did show himself some favor'd conns : 

Of the great Coan, 4 him, whom nature made 

To serve the costliest creature of her tribe : 

His fellow inark'd an opposite intent ; 

Bearing a sword, whose glitterance and keen edge. 

E'en as I view'd it with the flood between, 

Appall'd me. Next, four others 5 I beheld, 

Of humble seeming: and, behind them all, 

One single old man, 6 sleeping as he came, 

With a shrewd visage. And these seven, each 

1 A band quaternion.'] The four moral or cardinal virtues. 

of whom Prudence directs the others. 



■ One 



The rest conducted.] Prudence, described with three eyes, 

a past, the present, and the future. 

s Twe old men.] Saint Luke, the physician, characterized 

as the writer of the Acts of the Apostles, and Saint Paul, le- 

piesented with the sword, on account, as it should seem, oi 

wei of his style. 

4 Of the great Coan.] Hippocrates, " whom nature made for 
the benefit of her favorite creature, man." 

5 F:uf others.] "The commentators." says Venturi. " sup- 

beae foul to be the four evangelists ; but I should rather 
take them to be fora principal doctors of the church." Yet 
both Landino and VellnteUo expressly call them the authors 
of the epistles. James. Peter, John, and Jude. 

6 ?me single old man.] As seme say, St. John, under his 

cter of the author of the Apocalypse. But. in the poem 
..:ed to Griacopo, the son of cur Poet, which in some 
MSS. and in one of the earliest editions, accompanies the 
original of this work, and is descriptive of its plan, this old 
Moses. 
E'l vecchio. ch' era dietro a tutti loro, 
FuMoyse. 

And the old man. who was behind them all, 
Was Moses. 
See No. 3459 of the Hark MSS. in the Pritisn Museum. 



142-liH). PURGATORY, Canto XXX. 38] 

Like the first troop were habited ; but w ore 
No braid of lilies on their temples wreathed. 
Rather, with roses and each vermeil flower, 
A sight, but little distant, might have sworn, 
That they were all on fire 1 above their brow. 

When as the car was o'er against me, straight 
Was heard a thundering, at whose voice it seem'd 
The chosen multitude were stay'd ; for there. 
With the first ensigns, made they solemn halt. 



CANTO XXX. 

ARGUMENT. 

Beatrice descends from heaven, and rebukes the Poet 
Soon as that polar light,' 2 fair ornament 
Of the first heaven, which hath never known 
Setting nor rising, nor the shadowy veil 
Of other cloud than sin, to duty there 
Each one convo} T ing, as that lower doth 
The steersman to his port, stood firmly fix'd ; 
Forthwith the saintly tribe, who in the van 
Between the Gryphon and its radiance came, 
Did turn them to the car, as to their rest : 
And one, as if commission'd from above, 
In holy chant thrice shouted forth aloud ; 
" Come, 3 spouse ! from Libanus :" and all the rest 
Took up the song. — At the last audit, so 
The blest shall rise, from forth his cavern each 
Uplifting lightly his new-vested flesh ; 
As, on the sacred litter, at the voice 
Authoritative of that elder, sprang 
A hundred ministers and messengers 
Of life eternal. " Blessed 4 thou, who comesjt !" 

1 All on fire.] So Giles Fletcher— 

The wood's late wintry head 
With flaming primroses set all on fire. 

Christ's Triumph after Death. 

2 That polar liffht.] The seven candlesticks of gold, which 
he calls the polar light of heaven itself, because they per- 
form the same office for Christians that the polar star does 
for mariners, in guiding them to their port. 

3 Come.] "Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, with 
me, from Lebanon." Seng- of Solomon, iv. 8. 

4 Blessed.] " Blessed is he that coraeth in the name of the 
Lord." Matt. xxi. 9. 



382 r I HE VISION. 20-2b 

And, " Oh !" they cried, " from full hands 1 scatter ye 
Unwithering lilies :" and, so saying, cast 
Flowers over head and round them on all sides 

I have beheld, ere now. at break of day, 
The eastern clime all roseate ; and the sky 
Opposed, one deep and beautiful serene ; 
And the sun's face so shaded, and with mists 
Attemper'd, at his rising, that the eye 
Long while endured the sight : thus, in a cloud 
Of flowers, 2 that frcai those hands angelic roj-e, 
And down within and outside of the car 
Fell showering, in white veil with olive wreathed, 
A virgin in my view appear'd, beneath 
Green mantle, robed in hue of living flame : 
And 3 o'er my spirit, that so long a time 
Had from her presence felt no shuddering dread, 
Albeit mine eyes discern'd her not, there move? 
A hidden virtue from her, at whose touch 
The power of ancient love 4 was strong within me 

i From full hands. ~\ Manibus date lilia plenis. 

Virg., JEii., lib. vi. 884 

2 In a cloud 

Of flowers.] Dentro una nuvola di fiori. 



ninguntque resarum, 

Floribus, umbrantes inatrem, &c. Lucretius, lib. ii. 
Thus Milton : 

Eve separate he spies, 

Veil'd in a cloud of fragrance, where she stood. 

P.L., b.ix V.42& 
And Thomson, in his Invocation to Spring • 

veil'd in a showei 

Of shadowing roses, on our plains descend. 

3 And.} In the first edition it stood thus : 

And o*er my spirit, that in former days 

Within her presence had abode so long, 

No shuddering terror crept. Mine eyes no more 
v Had knowledge of her ; yet there moved from her 

A hidden virtue, at whose touch awaked, &c. 
And this was a translation of the common reading, which has 
" con la sua presenza," instead of "che alia sua presenza," 
and a full stop instead of a comma after "infranto." As 1 
have little doubt but that the reading of the Nidobeatina 
edition and that of many MSS. is right in this instance, I 
have altered the version as it now stands in the text, which 
still perhaps needs some explanation. His spirit, which had 
been so long unawed by the presence of Beatrice, (for she had 
been ten years dead,) now felt, through a secret influenco 
proceeding from her, its ancient love revived, though his 
sight had not yet distinguished her. 

4 The power of ancient love.] 

D'antico amor senti la gran potenza. 
lo sen to si d'amor la gran possanza. 

Dante, Canton* vi 



»-7G. PURGATORY, Canto XXX. 383 

No sooner on my vision streaming, smote 
The heavenly influence, which, years past, and e'en 
In childhood, thrill'd me, than towards Virgil I 
Turn'd me to leftward ; panting, like a babe, 
That flees for refuge to his mother's breast, 
If aught have terrified or work'd him wo : 
And would have cried, " There is no dram of blood 
That doth not quiver in me. The old flame 1 
Throws out clear tokens of reviving fire." 
But Virgil had bereaved ns of himself ; 
Virgil, my best-loved father ; Virgil, he 
To whom I gave me up for safety : nor 2 
All, our prime mother lost, avail'd to save 
My midew'd cheeks from blur of soiling tears. 

" Dante ! weep not, that Virgil leaves thee ; nay, 
Weep thou not yet : behooves thee feel the edge 
Of other sword ; and thou shalt weep for that." 

As to the prow or stern, some admiral 
Paces the deck, inspiriting his crew, 
When 'mid the sail-yards all hands ply aloof; 
Thus, on the left side of the car, I saw 
(Turning me at the sound of mine own name, 
Which here I am compell'd to register) 
The virgin station'd, who before appear'd 
VeiFd in that festive shower angelical. 

Towards me, across the stream, she bent her eyes 
Though from her brow the veil descending, bound 
With foliage of Minerva, suffer'd not 
That I beheld her clearly : then with act 
Full royal, still insulting o'er her thrall, 
Added, as one who, speaking, keepeth back 
The bitterest saying, to conclude the speecn . 
" Observe me well. I am, in sooth, I am 
Beatrice. What ! and hast thou deign'd at last 
Approach the mountain ? Knewest not, O man ! 
Thy happiness is here ?" Down fell mine eyes 
On the clear fount ; but there, myself espying, 
Recoil'd, and sought the greenswerd ; such a weight 

Sveglia d'antico amor la gran possanza. 

Mr. Mat/lias's Ode to Mr. Nichols, Gray's Works, 
4to. 1814, vol. i. p. 532. 
i The old fiame.] 

Agnosco veteris vestigia flainmae. 

Virg. JEn., lib. iv. 23 
Conosco i segni dell' antico fuoco. 

Giusto de' Conti, La Bella Mano 
» A*or.] " Not all the beauties of the terrestrial Para lise 
in which was, were sufficient to allay my grief." 



384 THE VISION. 7; 100 

Of shame was on my forehead. With a mien 

Of that stern majesty, which doth surround 

A mother's presence to her awe-struck child, 

She look'd ; a flavor of such bitterness 

Was mingled in her pity. There her words 

Brake off; and suddenly the angels sang, 

" In thee, O gracious Lord ! my hope hath been :" 

But 1 went no farther than, " Thou, Lord ! hast set 

My feet in ample room." As snow, that lies, 

Amidst the living rafters 2 on the back 

Of Italy, congeal'd, when drifted high 

And closely piled by rough Sclavonian blasts ; 

Breathe but the land whereon no shadow falls, 3 

And straightway melting it distils away, 

Like a fire-wasted taper : thus was I, 

Without a sigh or tear, or ever these 

Did sing, that, with the chiming of heaven's sphere, 

Still in their warbling chime : but when the strain 

Of dulcet symphony express'd for me 

Their soft compassion, more than could the words. 

" Virgin ! why so consumest him 1" then, the ice, 4 

Congeal'd about my bosom, turn'd itself 

To spirit and water ; and with anguish forth 

Gush'd, through the lips and eyelids, from the heart. 

Upon the chariot's same edge 5 still she stood, 
Immoveable ; and thus address'd her words 
To those bright semblances with pity touch'd : 
" Ye in the eternal day your vigils keep ; 
So that nor night nor slumber, with close stealth, 
Conveys from you a single step, in all 

1 But.\ They sang the thirty-first Psalm, to the end of the 
eighth verse. What follows in that Psalm would not have 
suited the place or the occasion. 

2 The living- rafters. J " Vive tra«vi." The leafless woods 
on the Apennine. 

Fraxineeeque trabes. Virg., JEn., lib. Vl. 181. 

and 

Trabibusque obscurus acernis. Ibid., lib. ix. 87. 

3 The land whereon no shadow falls.} " When the wind 
blows from off Africa, where, at the time of the equinox, 
bodies, being under the equator, cast little or no shadow ; or, 
in other werds, when the wind is south." 

4 The ice.) Milton has transferred this conceit, though 
scarcely worth the pains of removing, into one of his Italian 
poems, Son. v. 

s Same edge.] The Nidobeatina edition, and many MSS, 
here read "delta coscia," instead of "destra," or "dritta cos- 
sia ;" and it is probable from what has gone before, that the 
ormer is the right reading. See v. 60. 



107-144. PURGATORY, Caxto XXX. 386 

The goings on of time ; Ihence, with more heed 

I shape mine answer, for his ear intended, 

Who there stands weeping ; that the sorrow now 

May equal the transgression. Not alone 

Through operation of the mighty orbs, 

That mark each seed to some predestined aim, 

As with aspect or fortunate or ill 

The constellations meet ; but through benign 

Largess of heavenly graces, which rain down 

From such a height as mocks our vision, this man 

Was, in the freshness of his being, 1 such, 

So gifted virtually, that in him 

Ail better habits wondrously had thrived. 

The more of kindly strength is in the soil, 

feo much doth evil seed and lack of culture 

Mar it the more, and make it run to wildness. 

These looks sometime upheld him ; for I show'd 

My youthful eyes, and led him by their light 

In upright walking. Soon as I had reach'd 

The threshold of my second age, 2 and changed 

My mortal for immortal ; then he left me, 

And gave himself to others. When from flesh 

To spirit I had risen, and increase 

Of beauty and of virtue circled me, 

I was less dear to him, and valued less. 

His steps were turn'd into deceitful ways, 

Following false images of good, that make 

No promise perfect. Nor avail'd me aught 

To sue for inspirations, with the which, 

I, both in dreams of night, and otherwise, 

Did call him back ; of them, so little reck'd him. 

Such depth he fell, that all device was short 

Of his preserving, save that he should view 

The children of perdition. To tins end 

I visited the purlieus of the dead : 

And one, who hath conducted him thus high, 

Received my supplications urged with weeping 

It were a breaking of God's high decree, 

1 In the freshness of his being.] 

Nella sua vita nuova. 
Some suppose our Poet alludes to the work so called, written 
in his youth. 

2 The threshold of my second age.] In the Convito, our Poet 
makes a division of human life into four ages, the first of 
which lasts till the twenty-fifth year. Beatrice, therefore, 
passed from this life to a better, about that period. See the 
Life of Dante prefixed. 

33 



386 THE VISION. US, 146 

If Lethe should be pass'd, and such food 1 tasted, 
Without the cost of some repentant tear." 



CANTO XXXI. 

ARGUMENT 

Beatrice continues her reprehension of Dante, who confess©! 
his error, and falls to the ground: coming to himself 
again, he is by Matilda drawn through the waters of 
Lethe, and presented first to the four virgins who figure 
the cardinal virtues ; these in their turn lead him to the 
Gryphon, a symbol of our Saviour ; and the three virgins, 
representing the evangelical virtues, intercede for him 
with Beatrice, that she would display to him her second 
beauty. 

" O thou !"' her words she thus without delay 
Resuming, turn'd their point on me, to whom 
They, with but lateral edge, 2 seem'd harsh before : 
" Say thou, w^ho stand'st beyond the holy stream, 
If this be true. A charge, so grievous, needs 
Thine own avowal." On my faculty 
Such strange amazement hung, the voice expired 
Imperfect, ere its organs gave it birth. 

A little space refraining, then she spake : 
" What dost thou muse on ? Answer me. The wave 
Oa thy remembrances of evil yet 
Hath done no injury." A mingled sense 
Of fear and of confusion, from my lips 
Did such a " Yea" produce, as needed help 
Of vision to interpret. As when breaks, 
In act to be discharged, a cross-bow bent 
Beyond its pitch, both nerve and bow o'erstretch'd ; 
The flagging weapon feebly hits the mark : 
Thus, tears and sighs forth gushing, did I burst 
Beneath the heavy load : and thus my voice 
Was slacken'd on its way. She straight began : 
" When my desire invitee 1 thee to love 
The good, which sets a bound to our aspirings ; 
What bar of thwarting foss or linked chain 
Did meet thee, that thou so shouldst quit the hope 
Of further progress ? or what bait of ease, 
Or promise of allurement, led thee on 
Elsewhere, that thou < lsewhere shouldst rather wait V* 

1 Such food.] The oblivion of sins. 

* With but lateral edge.] The words of Beatrice, when not 
addressed directly to himself, but spoken to the angel of him, 
Dante had thought sufficiently harsh. 



t9-56. PURGATORY, Canto XXXI. 387 

A bitter sigh I drew, then scarce found roice 
To answer ; hardly to these sounds my lips 
Gave utterance, wailing : " Thy fair looks withdrawn, 
Things present, with deceitful pleasures, turn'd 
My steps aside." She answering spake : " Hadst thou 
Been silent, or denied what thou avow'st, 
Thou hadst not hid thy sin the more ; such eye 
Observes it. But whene'er the sinner's cheek 
Breaks forth into the precious-streaming tears 
Of self-accusing, in our court the wheel 
Of justice doth run counter to the edge. 1 
Howe'er, that thou mayst profit by thy shame 
For errors past, and that henceforth more strength 
May arm thee, when thou hear'st the Syren-voice, 
Lay thou aside the motive to this grief, 
And lend attentive ear, while I unfold 
How opposite a Way my buried flesh 
Should have impell'd thee. Never didst thou spy, 
In art or nature, aught so passing sweet, 
As were the limbs that in their beauteous frame 
Enclosed me, and are scatter'd now in dust. 
If sweetest thing thus fail'd thee with my death, 
What, afterward, of mortal, should thy wish 
Have tempted ? When thou first hadst felt the dart 
Of perishable things, in my departing 
For better realms, thy wing thou shouldst have pruned 
To follow me ; and never stoop'd again, 
To 'bide a second blow, for a slight girl, 2 

1 Counter to the edge.] u The weapons of divine justice are 
blunted by the confession and sorrow of the offender." 

2 Fur a slight girl.] " Daniello and Venturi say that this 
alludes to Gentucca of Lucca, n/entioned in the twenty- 
fourth Canto. They did not, however, observe that Buonag- 
gnnta there gives us to understand that Dante knew not if 
Gentucca were then in the world, and that Beatrice is now 
reprehending him for past and not for future errors." Thus 
Lombardi. Pelli (Memor., p. 57) acquaints us that Corbinelli, 
in the Life of Dante, added to the edition of the De Vulg. 
Eloq., says the name of this lady was " Pargoletta." But the 
intimation, as Pelli justly remarks, can scarcely be deemed 
authentic. The annotator on the Monte Cassino MS. gives a 
very different Uirn to the allusion. " Quae proca fuif," &c. 
'•This was either a mistress ; or else it is put for the poetic 
art, as when he says in a certain song : 

Io mi son pargoletta bella e nuova 
E son venuta. 
which rebuke of Beatrice's may be delivered in the person of 
many theologians dissuading from poetry and other worldly 
sciences ; a rebuke that should be directed against those whu 
read the poets to gratify their own inclination, and not for 
the sake of instruction, that they may defeat the errors of 



388 THE VISION 57-84 

Or other gaud as transient and as vain. 
The new and inexperienced bird 1 awaits, 
Twice it may be, or thrice, the fowler's aim ; 
But in the sight of one whose plumes are full, 
In vain the net is spread, the arrow wing'd." 

I stood, as children silent and ashamed 
Stand, listening, with their eyes upon the earth, 
Acknowledging their fault, and self-condeimrd 
And she resumed : "If, but to hear, thus pains the*? 
Raise thou thy beard, and lo ! what sight shall do ' 

"With less reluctance yields a sturdy holm, 
Rent from its fibres by a blast, that blows 
From off the pole, or from Iarbas' land, 2 
Than I at her behest my visage raised : 
And thus the face denoting by the beard, 3 
I mark'd the secret sting her words convey'd. 

No sooner lifted I mine aspect up, 
Than I perceived 4 those primal creatures cease 
Their flowery sprinkling ; and mine eyes beheld 
(Yet unassured and wavering in their view) 
Beatrice ; she, who towards the mystic shape, 
That joins two natures in one form, had turn'd : 
And, even under shadow of her veil, 
And parted by the verdant rill that flow'd 
Between, in loveliness she seem'd as much 
Her former self -surpassing, as on earth 
All others she surpass'd. Remorseful goads 
Shot sudden through me. Each thing else, the m e 

the Gentiles." It remains to be considered whether our 
Poet's marriage with Gemma de' Donafi, and the difficulties 
In which that engagement involved him, may not be the ob- 
ject of Beatrice's displeasure. 

1 Bird.] " Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight ol 
any bird." Prov. i. 17. 

a From Iarbas' land.] The south. 

s The beard.] " I perceived, that when she desired me to 
raise my beard, instead of telling me to lift up my head, a se- 
vere reflection was implied on my want of that wisdom which 
should accompany the age of manhood." 

4 Than I perceived.] I had before translated this differ- 
ently, and in agreement with those editions which read, 
Posarsi quelle belle creature 
Da loro apparsion. 
Instead of 

Posarsi quelle prime creature 
Da loro aspersion, 
for which reading I am indebted to Lombardi, w ho derives 
it from the Niiobeatina edition. By the "primal creatures' 
jre meant the angels, who were scattering the flowers on 
Beatrice. 



35 116. PURGATORY, Canto XXXI. 380 

Its love had late beguiled me, now the more 
Was loathsome. On my heart so keenly smote 
The bitter consciousness, that on the ground 
O'erpower'd I fell : and what my state was then, 
She knows, who was the cause. When now my 

strength 
Flow'd back, returning outward from the heart, 
The lady, 1 whom alone I first had seen, 
I found above me. " Loose me not," she cried : 
M Loose not thy hold :" and lo ! had dragg'd me high 
As to my neck into the stream ; while she, 
Still as she drew me after, swept along, 
Swift as a shuttle, bounding o'er the wave. 

The blessed shore approaching, then was heard 
So sweetly, " Tu asperges me,'" 2 that I 
}Iay not remember, much less tell the sound. 

The beauteous dame, her arms expanding, clasp'd 
My temples, and immerged me where 'twas fit 
The wave should drench me : and, thence raising up. 
Within the fourfold dance of lovely nymphs 
Presented me so laved ; and with their arm 
They each did cover me. " Here are we nymphs, 
And in the heaven are stars. 3 Or ever earth 
Was visited of Beatrice, we, 
Appointed for her handmaids, tended on her. 
We to her eyes will lead thee : but the light 
Of gladness, that is in them, well to scan, 
Those yonder three, 4 of deeper ken than ours, 
Thy sight shall quicken." Thus began their song : 
And then they led me to the Gryphon's breast, 
Where, turn'd toward us, Beatrice stood. 
" Spare not thy vision. We have station'd thee 
Before the emeralds, 5 whence love, erewhile, 



i The lady.] Matilda. 

2 Tu asperges me.} "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall 
be clean ; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." Ps. 
li. 7. Sung by the choir, while the priest is sprinkling the 
people with holy water. 

s And in the heaven are stars.] See Canto i. 24. 

4 Those yonder three.} Faith, hope,, and charity. 

s The emeralds.] The eyes of Beatrice. The author of 
Illustrations of Shakspeare, 8vo., 1807, vol. ii. p. 193. lias 
referred to old writers, by whom the epithet green is given 
to eyes, as by the early French poets, and by Shakspeare, 
llomeo and Juliet, act hi. sc. 5. 

an eagle, madam, 

Hath not so green, so quick, so fair an eye. 
Mr. Douce's conjecture, that eyes of this color are much 
less common now than formerly, is not so probable as that 
writers, and especially poets, should at times be somewhaJ 



390 THE VISION. 117-1*1 

Hath drawn his weapons on thee." As they spake 

A thousand fervent wishes riveted 

Mine eyes upon her beaming eyes, that stood, 

Still fix'd toward the Gryphon, motionless. 

As the sun strikes a mirror, even thus 

Within those orbs the twyfold being shone ; 

For ever varying, in one figure now 

Reflected, now in other. Reader ! muse 

How wondrous in my sight it seem'd, to mark 

A thing, albeit steadfast in itself, 

Yet in its imaged semblance mutable. 

Full of amaze, and joyous, while my soul 
Fed on the viand, whereof still desire 
Grows with satiety ; the ether three, 
With gesture that declared a loftier line, 
Advanced : to their own carol, on they came 
Dancing, in festive ring angelical. 

" Turn, Beatrice !" was their song : " Oh ! turn 
Thy saintly sight on this thy faithful one, 
Who, to behold thee, many a wearisome pace 
Hath measured. Gracious at our prayer, vouchsafe 
Unveil to him thy cheeks ; that he may mark 
Thy second beauty, now conceal'd." O splendor ' 
O sacred light eternal ! who is he, 
So pale with musing in Pierian shades, 
Or with that fount so lavishly imbued, 
Whose spirit should not fail him in the essay 
To represent thee such as thou didst seem, 
When under cope of the still-chiming heaven 
Thou gavest to open air thy charms reveal'd ? 



CANTO XXXII. 

ARGUMENT. 

Dante is warned not to gaze too fixedly on Beatrice. Vhe 
procession moves on, accompanied by Matilda, Statins, anti 
Dante, till they reach an exceeding lofty tree, where dvers 
strange chances befall. 

Mine eyes with such an eager coveting 
Were bent to rid them of their ten years' thirst/ 
No other sense was waking : and e'en they 

loose and general in applying terms expressive of color, 
whereof an instance may be seen in some ingenious remarks 
hy Mr. Blomfield on the word Kvdvtog. JEschyli Persa Edit 
^14, Glossar., p. 107. 
' Their ten years' 1 thirst.] Beatrice had been dead ten years 



1-37. PURGATORY, Canto XXXII. 30 i 

Were fenced on either side from heed of aught ; 

So tangled, in its custom'd toils, that smile 

Of saintly brightness drew me to itself : 

When forcibly, toward the left, my sight 

The sacred virgins turn'd ; for from their lips 

I heard the warning sounds : " Too fix'd a gaze l" 1 

Awhile my vision labor'd ; as when late 
Upon the o'erstrained eyes the sun hath smote • 
But soon, 2 to lesser object, as the view 
Was now recover'd, (lesser in respect 
To that excess of sensible, whence late 
I had perforce been sunder'd,) on their right 
I mark'd that glorious army wheel, and turn, 
Against the sun and sevenfold lights, their front. 
As when, their bucklers for protection raised, 
A well-ranged troop, with portly banners curl'd, 
Wheel circling, ere the whole can change their 
E'en thus the goodly regiment of heaven, [ground ; 
Proceeding, all did pass us, ere the car 
Had sloped his beam. Attendant at the wheels 
The damsels turn'd ; and on the Gryphon moved 
The sacred burden, with a pace so smooth, 
No feather on him trembled. The fair dame, 
Who through the wave had drawn me, companied 
By Statius and myself, pursued the wheel, 
Whose orbit, rolling, mark'd a lesser arch. [blame, 

Through the high wood, now void (the more her 
Who by the serpent was beguiled) I pass'd, 
With step in cadence to the harmony 
Angelic. Onward had we moved, as far, 
Perchance, as arrow at three several nights 
Full wing'd had sped, when from her station down 
Descended Beatrice. With one voice 
All murmur' d " Adam ;" circling next a plant 3 



i Too fix'd a gaze.} The allegorical interpretation of Vei- 
luteUo, whether it be considered as justly inferrible from the 
text or not, conveys so useful a lesson, that it deserves our 
notice. "The understanding is sometimes so intently en- 
gaged in contemplating the light of divrne truth in the Scrip- 
tures, that it becomes dazzled, and is made less capable of 
attaining such knowledge, than if it had sought after it with 
greater moderation." 

2 But soon\ As soon as his sight was recovered, so as to 
bear the view of that glorious procession, which, splendid as 
it was, was yet less so than Beatrice, by whom his vision had 
been overpowered, &c. 

3 A plant.] Lombardi has conjectured, with much proba- 
bility, that this tree is not (as preceding commentators had 
supposed) merely intended to represent the tree of knowledge 



THE v>; j^» 

oD'd of flovrers and leaf, on e^ery bough. 
Its tr- ..ding more as more they rose, 

Were such, as 'midst :j.rir forest wilds, for height. 
The Indians 2 might have gazed at- " Blessed them 
Gryphon ! c whose beak hath never pluck'd that tree 
Pleasant to taste : for hence the appetite 
Was warp'd to evil." Round the stately trunk 
T h us she rated forth the rest, to whom return'd 
The animal twice-gender'd : "Yea! for so 
The generation of the just are saved." 
And turning to the chariot -pole, to foot 
He drew it of the widowM branch, and bound 
There, k-ft unto the stock 4 whereon it grew. 

As when large floods of radiance 3 from above 
Stream, with that radiance mingled, which ascends 
Next a::er setting of the scaly sign, 
Our plants then burgein, and each wears anew 
ated solars, ere the sun have voked 



of good and evil, bat that the Roman empire is figured by it. 
Among the maxims maintained by onr Poet, as the same 
commentator observes, were these : that one monarchy ha«] 
willed by Providence, and was necessary for universal 
peace ; and that this monarchy, by right of justice and by 
the divine ordinance, belonged to the Roman people only. 
His Treatise de Monarchia was written indeed to inculcate 
these maxims, and to prove that the temporal monarchy de- 
pends immediately on God, and should be kept as distinct as 
possible from the authority of the pope. 

1 Its tresses.] "1 saw, and behold, a tree in the midst of 
..he earth, and the height thereof was great." Daniel, iv. 10. 

2 The Indians.] 

duos oceano proprior gerit India lucos. 

r — George lib. ii. 122. 

Such as at this day to Indians known. 

Milton, * £.,b.ii. 1102. 

£ Blessed tkou* 

Gnjphcn !] Our Savi hi the Roman em 

- to be intended, and particularly his injunction, 
" to render unto Czesar the things that are Caesar's." 

4 There, left unto the stock.] Dante here seems. I think, 
to intimate what he has attempted to prove at the conclusion 
of the second book de Monarchia ; namely, that our Saviour, 
by his suffering under the sentence, not of Herod, but of 
Pilate, who was the delegate of the Roman emperor, acknow- 
ledged and confirmed the supremacy thai Hiiperor over 

r ; : r ;: aa he argues, all mankind were be- 

come sinners thrcn. the son 'A shment, that 

was inflicted by r.zht of jurisdiction 

less than the whole human i cc could have een sufficient 
to satisfy for the sins of all men. See note to Paradise, c 
vi. 89. 

5 When large floods of radiance.] When the sun entea 
into Aries, the constellation next to that of the Fish. 



50-95. PURGATORY. Canto XXXII. 303 

Beneath another star his flamy steeds ; 

Thus putting forth a hue more faint than rose. 

And deeper than the violet, was renew" d 

The plant, erewhile in all its branches bare. 

Unearthly was the hymn, which then arose. 

I understood it not, nor to the end 

Endured the harmony. Had I the skill 

To pencil forth how closed the unpitying eyes 1 

Slumbering, when Syrinx warbled, (eyes that paid 

So dearly for their watching) then, like painter, 

That with a model paints, I might design 

The manner of my falling into sleep. 

But feign who will the slumber cunningly, 

I pass it by to when I waked ; and tell, 

How suddenly a flash of splendor rent 

The curtain of my sleep, and one cries out, 

" Arise : what dost thou?" As the chosen three, 

On Tabor's mount, admitted to behold 

The blossoming of that fair tree, 2 whose fruit 

Is coveted of angels, and doth make 

Perpetual feast in heaven : to themselves 

Returning, at the word whence deeper sleeps 3 

Were broken, they their tribe diminished saw ; 

Both Moses and Elias gone, and changed 

The stole their master wore ;' thus to myself 

Returning, over me beheld I stand 

The piteous one, 4 who, cross the stream, had broughl 

My steps. " And where," all doubting, I exclaim'dj 

" Is Beatrice?" — " See her," she replied, 

Ci Beneath the fresh leaf, seated on its root. 

Behold the associate choir, that circles her. 

The others, with a melody more sweet 

And more profound, journeying to higher realms, 

Upon the Gryphon tend." If there her words 

Were closed, I know not ; but mine eyes had now 

Ta'en view of her, by whom all other thoughts 

Were barr'd admittance. On the very ground 

Alone she sat, as she had there been left 

A guard upon the wain, which I beheld 

Bound to the twyform beast. The seven nymphs 

1 The unpitying eyes.] See Ovid, Met., lib. i. 689. 

2 The blossoming of that fair tree.] Our Saviour's transfigu- 
ration. " As the apple-tree among the trees of the wood,'&a 
is my beloved among the sons." Solomon's Song, ii 3 

3 Deeper sleeps.] The sleep of death, in the instance of the 
ruler of the Synagogue's daughter and of Lazarus. 

* The pite -as one.] Matilda. 



394 THE VISION. </6-130 

Did make themselves a cloister roin.d ab<vut her ; 
And, in their hands, upheld those lights 1 secure 
From blast septentrion and the gusty south.- 

" A little while thou shalt be forester here ; 
And citizen shalt be, for ever with me, 
Of that true Rome, 2 wherein Christ dwells a Roman 
To profit the misguided world, keep now 
Thine eyes upon the car ; and what thou seest, 
Take heed thou write, returning to that place." 3 

Thus Beatrice : at whose feet inclined 
Devout, at her behest, my thought and eyes, 
I, as she bade, directed. Never fire, 
With so swift motion, forth a stormy cloud 
Leap'd downward from the welkin's farthest bound, 
As I beheld the bird of Jove 4 descend 
Down through the tree ; and, as he rush'd, the rind 
Disparting crush beneath him ; buds much more, 
And leaflets. On the car, with all his might 
He struck ; whence, staggering, like a ship it reel'd ; 
At random driven, to starboard now, o'ercome. 
And now to larboard, by the vaulting waves. 

Next, springing up into the chariot's womb, 
A fox 5 I saw, with hunger seeming pined 
Of all good food. But, for his ugly sins 
The saintly maid rebuking him, away 
Scampering he turn'd, fast as his hide -bound corpse 
Would bear him. Next, from whence before he came 
I saw the eagle dart into the hull 
O' the car, and leave it with his feathers lined : 6 
And then a voice, like that which issues forth 
From heart with sorrow rived, did issue forth 
From heaven, and, " O poor bark of mine !" it cried. 
" How badly art thou freighted." Then it seem'd 
That the earth open'd, between either wheel ; 
And I beheld a dragon 7 issue thence, 



1 Those lights.'] The tapers of gold. 

2 Of that true Rome.] Of heaven. 

3 To that place.] To the earth. 

4 The bird of Jove.] This, which is imitated from Ezekiel 
xvii. 3,4, is typical of the persecutions which the church sus- 
tained from the Roman emperors. 

5 A fox.] By the fox probably is represented the treachery 
of the heretics. 

6 With his feathers lined.] In allusion to the donations 
made by Constantine to the church. 

7 A dragon.] Probably Mahomet ; for what Lombardi offers 
\j the contrary is far from satisfactory. 



;31-157. PURGATORY, Canto XXXIII. 395 

That through the chariot flx'd his forked train ; 

And like a wasp, that draggeth back the sting, 

So drawing forth his baleful train, he dragg'd 

Part of the bottom forth ; and went his way 

Exulting. "What remain'd, as lively turf 

With green herb, so did clothe itself with plumes, 1 

Which haply had, with purpose chaste and kind, 

Been ofTer'd ; and therewith were clothed the wheels* 

Both one and other, and the beam, so quickly, 

A sigh were not breathed sooner. Thus transform'd : 

The holy structure, through its several parts, 

Did put forth heads ; 2 three on the beam, and one 

On every side : the first like oxen horn'd ; 

But with a single horn upon their front, 

The four. Like monster, sight hath never seen. 

O'er it 3 methought there sat, secure as rock 

On mountain's lofty top, a shameless whore, 

Whose ken roved loosely round her. At her side, 

As 'twere that none might bear her off, I saw 

A giant stand ; and ever and anon 

They mingled kisses. But, her lustful eyes 

Chancing on me to wander, that fell minion 

Scourged her from head to foot all o'er ; then full 

Of jealousy, and fierce with rage, unloosed 

The monster, and dragg'd on, 4 so far across 

The forest, that from me its shades alone 

Shielded the harlot and the new-form'd brute. 

CANTO XXXIII. 

ARGUMENT. 
After a hymn suns, Beatrice leaves the tree, and takes with 
her the seven virgins, Matilda, Statius, and Dante. She 

1 With plumes.} The increase of wealth and temporal do- 
minion, which followed the supposed gift of Constantine. 

2 Heads.] By the seven heads, it is supposed with suffi- 
cient probability, are meant the seven capital sins: by the 
three with two horns, pride, anger, and avarice, injurious bo.h 
to man himself and to his neighbor : by the four with one 
horn, gluttony, gloominess, concupiscence, and envy, hurtful, 
at least in their primary effects, chiefly to him who is guilty 
of them. Vellutello refers to Rev. xvii. Landino, who is 
followed by Lorn bard i, understands the seven heads to signify 
the seven sacraments, and the ten horns the ten command- 
ments. Compare Hell, c. xix. 11-2. 

3 O'er it.] The harlot is thoucht to represent the state of 
the church under Boniface VIII., and the giant to figure 
Philip IV. of France. 

4 Dragged on.] The removal of the pope's residence from 
Rome to Avignon is pointed at 



396 THE VISION 1-34 

then darkly predicts to our Poets some future events. Last- 
ly, the whole band arrive at the fountain, from whence the 
streams, Lethe and Eunoe, separating, flow different 
ways ; and Matilda, at the desire of Beatrice, causes our 
Poet to drink of the latter stream. 

(i The heathen, 1 Lord ! are come ? responsive thus. 
Tar bin . and now the Yirgin hand 

Qaamrakn. their s""::: psairaody be^am 
Weep . g : a o d B e a : rice listened, sad 

Aa:mma::m.:: :i:f soar, da saea :. a: :::".. 

Tira: Mary. as 5 If store bosidf the tross. [place 

W a 5 scarce more changed. Bnt when they gave her 

T: speak, them risen apri^a: :n her fee:, 
S he. with a color glowing bright as fire, 
Did answei : "Yet a little while, 2 and ye 

rmraii see rrrr m: : and. my bf loved sisters ! 
Amir: a iittif whiif. aire ye shah see me." 

Before her tbftr sae marshah'd aii the e mea ; 
Ana. beokoma:;; raiy. rarhrrhd me. tie: dame. 
And that remaining sage, 3 to follow her. 

>:< ete sire pass' a : ami bad art set. I ween. 
Her terrtir see:: ::■ tite _:aamhmr:a. with mitre eyes. 
Her eyes err: ttmter'h : tab with viseme a 
11 >: trreari tiry pare." sire order.. •■ tit at a ray w 
Address titee. tit err mays: sad be apriy 



As 



] 






at:: revere::: : :r : we 


Ii .::: 


■e thei 




?, draw not forth the voice 


_ _ a v e 




tae.r m: 


s. .aa.. are :ae:r 


Taat 


I ar s 






■■ Lr 




- - - j 


ave tree a ::. ar a tar a aa : w st : 


Air r 






my need." She answering thus 


., {j- 






shame- I will that thou 


Hem 


eftrta 




aee : ma: mart soman rro more. 


As : 


re wa 


: areaar 


_ . '!',.-._ _-- ,. '.^ - .- ,. . -_ . r - - - 


Tire 


vessel 


waioa 


aea saw st tae serpent mean. 


- T 






) God, the heathen are come into thine 


r V 


.-nee.' 


'. 5 i : m 


Aram 1. 
44 A little while, and ve shall not see 


DM ' 


yr :,;■ 


m a a.i 


i while, and ye shall see me.*' John, 


: 7 




- 


?-:.' Saiaris 




5: - f v 


: ur.perfe 


d Irm:a:m :;;- Pemrch. L. i. 5 41. 
:e e c\;?.s: i'vma ::.e soma. 




<r~ 












_: 



35-9u. PURGATORY, Canto XXXIII. 39 1 ? 

Was, and is not i 1 let him, who hath the blame, 
Hope not to scare God's vengeance with a sop. 2 
Without an heir for ever shall not be 
That eagle, 3 he, who left the chariot plumed, 
Which monster made it first and next a prey 
Plainly I view, and therefore speak, the stars 
E'en now approaching, whose conjunction, fre* 
From all impediment and bar, brings on 
A season, in the which, one sent from God, 
(Five hundred, five, and ten, do mark him out) 
That foul one, and the accomplice of her guilt, 
The giant, both, shall slay. And if perchance 
My saying, dark as Themis or as Sphinx, 
Fail to persuade thee, (since like them it foils 
The intellect with blindness,) yet ere long 
Events shall be the Naiads, 4 that will solve 



J Was, and is not.] "The beast that was ami is not.' 
Rev., xvii. 11. 

2 Hope not to scare God's vengeance with a sop.] '* Let not 
him who hath occasioned the destruction of the church, that 
vessel which the serpent brake, hope to appease the anger of 
the Deity by any outward acts of religious, or rather super 
stitious ceremony; such as was that, in our Poet's time, 
performed by a murderer at Florence, who imagined himself 
secure from vengeance, if he ate a sop of bread in wine upon 
the grave of the person murdered, within the space of nine 
days." 

3 That eagle.] He prognosticates that the Emperor of 
Germany will not always continue to submit to the usurpa- 
tions of the Pope, and foretells the coming of Henry VII. 
Duke of Luxemburgh, signified by the numerical figures 
DVX ; or, as Lombardi supposes, of Can Grande della Scala, 
appointed the leader of the Ghibelline forces. It is unneces- 
sary to point out the imitation of the Apocalypse in the man- 
ner of this prophecy. 

Troya assigns reasons for applying the prediction to Ugur 
cione della Faggiola, rather than to Henry or Can Grande. 
Veltro Allecorico di Dante, Ediz. 1828, p. 143. But see my 
note, H. i. 102. 

4 The Naiads.] Dante, it is observed, has been led into a 
mistake by a corruption in the text of Ovid's Metam., 1. vii. 
757, where he found — 

Carmina Naiades non intellecta priorum 

Solvunt. 
instead of 

Carmina La'iades non intellecta priorum 

Solverat. 
as it has been since torrected by Heinsius. 

Lombardi, after Rosa Moranda, questions the propriety of 
this emendation, and refers to Pausanias,where " the Nymphs" 
are spoken of as expounders of oracles, for a vindication of tha 
poet's accuracy. 
34 



398 THE VISION ji-73 

This knotty ridci^ , and no damage light 1 

On flock or field. Take heed ; and as these words 

By me are utter d, teach them even so 

To those who live that life, which is a race 

To death : and when thou writest them, keep in mind 

Not to conceal how thou hast seen the plant, 

That twice 2 hath now been spoil'd. This whoso robs, 

This whoso plucks, with blasphemy of deed 

Sins against God, who for his use alone 

Creating hallow'd it. For taste of this, 

In pain and in desire, five thousand years 3 

And upward, the first soul did yearn for him 

Who punish'd in himself the fatal gust. 

" Thy reason slumbers, if it deem this height, 
And summit thus inverted, 4 of the plant, 
Without due cause : and were not vainer thoughts, 
As Elsa's numbing waters, 5 to thy soul, 
And their fond pleasures had not dyed it dark 
As Pyramus the mulberry ; thou hadst seen, 6 
In such momentous circumstance alone, 
God's equal justice morally implied 
In the forbidden tree. But since I mark thee, 
In understanding, harden'd into stone, 

Should the reader blame me for not departing from the 
error of the original, (if error it be,) he may substitute 
Events shall be the GEdipus will solve, &c. 

1 JVb damage light.'] 

Protinus Aoniis immissa est bellua Thebis, 

Cessit et exitio multis ; pecorique sibique 

Piiiricolse pavere feram. Ovid, ibid. 

2 Twice.] First by the eagle and next by the giant. See 
the last Canto, v. 110, and v. 154. 

3 Five thousand years.] That such was the opinion of the 
church, Lombardi shows by a reference to Baronius. Martyr. 
Rom., Dec. 25. Anno a creatione mundi, quando a principio 
creavit Deus ccelum et terram, quinquies millesimo centesimc 
nonagesimo — Jesus Christus — conceptus. Edit. Col. Agripp., 
4to, 1610, p. 858. 

4 Inverted.] The branches, unlike those of other trees, 
spreading more widely the higher they rose. See the last 
Canto, v. 39. 

5 Elsa's numbing waters.] The Elsa, a little stream, which 
flows into the Arno about twenty miles below Florence, is 
said to possess a petrifying quality. Fazio degli Uberti, at the 
conclusion of Cap. viii 1. 3, of the Dittamondo, mentions a 
successful experiment he had himself made of the property 
here attributed to it. 

6 Thou hadst seen.] This is obscure. But it would seem as 
if he meant to inculcate his favorite doctrine of the invio- 
lability of the empire, and of the care taken by Providence to 
protect it. 



T4-92. PURGATORY, Canto XXXIII. 399 

And, to that hardness, spotted too and stain'd, 

So that thine eye is dazzled at my word ; 

I will, that, if not written, yet at least 

Painted thou take it in thee, for the cause, [palm." 

That one brings home his staff inwreath'd witfc 

I thus : " As wax by seal, that changeth not 
Its impress, now is stamp'd my brain by thee. 
But wherefore soars thy wish'd-for speech so high 
Beyond my sight, that loses it the more, 
The more it strains to reach it?" — " To the end 
That thou mayst know," she answer'd straight, " the 
That thou hast follow'd ; and how far behind, [school, 
When following my discourse, its learning halts : 
And mayst behold your art, 2 from the divine 
As distant, as the disagreement is [orb." 

'Twixt earth and heaven's most high and rapturous 

" I not remember," I replied, " that e'er 
I was estranged from thee ; nor for such fault 
Doth conscience chide me." Smiling she return'd : 



1 That one brings home his staff inwreaiK 1 d with palm.\ 
'* For the same cause that the palmer, returning from Pales- 
tine, brings home his staff, or bourdon, bound with palm," 
that is, to show where he has been. 

Che si reca '1 bordon di palma cinto. 

*' It is to be understood," says our Poet in the Vita Nitova, 
11 that people, who go on the service of the Most High, are 
probably named in three ways. They are named palmers, 
inasmuch as they go beyond sea, from whence they often 
bring back the palm. Inasmuch as they go to the house of 
Galicia, they are called pilgrims ; because the sepulchre of 
St. James was further from his country than that of any 
other Apostle. They are called Romei," (for which I know 
of no other word we have in English except Roamers,) "in- 
asmuch as they go to Rome." p. 275. 

"In regard to the word bourdon, why it has been applied to 
a pilgrim's staff, it is not easy to guess. I believe, however, 
that this name has been given to such sort of staves, because 
pilgrims usually travel and perform their pilgrimages on foot, 
their staves serving them instead of horses or mules, then 
called bourdons and burdones, by writers in the middle ages." 
Mr. Johnes's Translation of Joinv ille' s Memoirs, Dissertation 
xv., by M. du Cange, p. 152, 4to edit. 

The word is thrice used by Chaucer in the Romaunt of the 
Rose. 

2 Mayst behold your art.] The second persons, singular and 
plural, are here used intentionally by our author, the one 
referring to himself alone, the second to mankind in general. 
Compare Hell, xi. 107. But I will follow the example of 
Brunck, who, in a note on a passage in the Philoctetes of 
Sophocles, v. 369, where a similar distinction requires to be 
made, says that it would be ridiculous to multiply Instancei 
In a m?tter so well known. 



400 THE VISION. 93-126 

" If thou canst not remember, call to mind 

How lately thou hast drunk of Lethe's wave ; 

And, sure as smoke doth indicate a flame, 

In that forgetfulness itself conclude 

Blame from thy alienated will incurr'd. 

From henceforth, verily, my words shall be 

As naked, as will suit them to appear 

In thy unpractised view." More sparkling now, 

And with retarded course, the sun possessed 

The circle of mid-day, that varies still 

As the aspect varies of each several clime ; 

When, as one, sent in vaward of a troop 

For escort, pauses, if perchance he spy 

Vestige of somewhat strange and rare ; so paused 

The sevenfold band, arriving at the verge 

Of a dun umbrage hoar, such as is seen, 

Beneath green leaves and gloomy branches, oft 

To overbrow a bleak and alpine cliff. 

And, where they stood, before them, as it seem'd 

I, Tigris and Euphrates 2 both, beheld 

Forth from one fountain issue ; and, like friends, 

Linger at parting. " O enlightening beam ! 

O glory of our kind ! beseech thee say 

What water this, which, from one source derived 

Itself removes to distance from itself?" 

To such entreaty answer thus was made : 
" Entreat Matilda, that she teach thee this." 

And here, as one who clears himself of blame 
Imputed, the fair dame return'd : " Of me 
He this and more hath learn'd ; and I am safe . 
That Lethe's water hath not hid it from him." 

And Beatrice : " Some more pressing care, 
That oft the memory 'reaves, perchance hath ma^o 
His mind's eye dark. But lo, where Eunoe flow*.' 



* So paused.] Lombard! imagines that the seven nymphs 
who represent the four cardinal and the three evangeLoal 
virtues, are made to stop at the verge of the shade, because 
retirement is the friend of ever\ virtuous quality and spiritual 
gift. 
2 f, Tigris and Euphrates.] 

Quaque caput rapido tollit cum Tigride magnus 
Euphrates, quos non diversis fontibns edit 
Persis. Lucan., Phars., lib. hi. 258. 

Tigris et Euphrates uno se fonte resolvunt. 

Boetius de Consol. PhilosGph., lib. v. Metr 1 

la oltre ond' esce 

P'un medesimo fonte Eufrate e Tigre. 

Petrarca. Son. Mie Venture, <*c 



B7-14SJ. PURGATORY, Camo XXXIII. 401 

Lead thither ; and, as thou art wont, revive 

His fainting virtue." As a courteous spirit, 

That proffers no excuses, but as soon 

As he hath token of another's will, 

Makes it his own ; when she had ta'en me, thus 

The lovely maiden moved her on, and call'd 

To Statius, with an air most lady-like : 

" Come thou with him." Were further space allow'd, 

Then, Reader ! might I sing, though but in part, 

That beverage, with whose sweetness I had ne'er 

Been sated. But, since all the leaves are full, 

Appointed for this second strain, mine art 

With warning bridle checks me. I return'd 

From the most holy wave, regenerate, 

E'en as new plants renew'd 1 with foliage new, 

Pure and made apt for mounting to the stars. 

1 Renewed } 

■ come piante novelle 

Rinnovellate da no%-ella fronda. 

So new this new-borne knisht to battle new did rise. 

Spenser, Faery Quecne, b. i. c. xi. st. 34. 
** Rinnovellate" is another of those words which Chancer 
in vain endeavored to introduce into our language from the 
Italian, unless it be supposed that he rather borrowed it from 
the French. " Certes ones a yere at the lest way it is lawful 
lo ben houseled, for sothely ones a yere all things in the earth 
►ennvelen." The Pcreo\e , a Tttf*. 



THE VISION OF DANTE. 



PARADISE, 



CANTO I. 



ARGUMENT. 
The Pcet ascends with Beatrice towards the first heaven . 
and is, by her, resolved of certain doubts which arise in his 
mind. 

His glory, by whose might all things are moved, 
Pierces the universe, 1 and in one part 
Sheds more resplendence, elsewhere less. In heaves 
That largeliest of his light partakes, was I, 
Witness of things, which, to relate again, 
Surpasseth power of him who comes from thence ; 
For that, so near approaching its desire, 
Our intellect is to such depth absorb'd, 
That memory cannot follow. Nathless all. 
That in my thoughts I of that sacred realm 
Could store, shall now 2 be matter of my song. 

1 Pierces the universe.] Per l'universo penetra, &c. 

his magnetic beam, that gently warms 

The universe, and to each inward part 
With gentle penetration, though unseen, 
Shoots invisible virtue ev'n to the deep. 

Milton, P. L., b iii 53ft 
* Shall now.] Sara ora materia del mio canto. 
Shall be the copious matter of my sonsr. 

Ibid., b. iii. 413. 



104 THE VISION. 12-3C 

Benign Apollo I 1 this last labor aid ; 
And make me such a vessel of thy worth, 
As thy own laurel claims, of me beloved. 
Thus far 2 hath one of steep Parnassus' brows 
Sufficed me ; henceforth, there is need of both 
For my remaining enterprise. Do thou 3 
Enter into my bosom, and there breathe 
So, as when Marsyas 4 by thy hand was dragg'd 
Forth from his limbs, unsheathed. O power divine 
If thou to me of thine impart so much, 
That of that happy realm the shadow'd form 
Traced in my thoughts I may set forth to vitw ; 
Thou shalt behold me of thy favor'd tree 
Come to the foot, and crown myself with leaves: 
For to that honor thou, and my high theme 
Will fit me. If but seldom, mighty Sire ! 
To grace his triumph, gathers thence a wreath 
Caesar, or bard, 6 (more shame for human wills 
Depraved,) joy to the Delphic god must spring 

1 Benign jSpollo.] Chaucer has imitated this invocation 
very closely, at the beginning of the Third Booke of Fame. 

If, divine vertue, thou 
Wilt helpe me to shewe now 
That in my head ymarked is, 



Thou shalt see me go as blive 
Unto the next laurer I see, 
And kisse it, for it is thy tree. 
Now entre thou my breast anone. 

1 Thus far.] He appears to mean nothing more than that 
this part of his poem will require ^a greater exertion of his 
powers than the former. 

3 Do thou.] Make me thine instrument ; and, through me, 
utter such sound as when thou didst contend with Mh* 
syas. 

4 Jllarsija*.] Ovid, Met., lib. vi. fab. 7. Compare Boccac- 
cio. II Filocopo., lib. v. p. 25. v. ii. Ediz. Fir. 1723. " E^ii 
nel mio petto entri," &c. — " May he enter my bosom, and le! 
my voice sound like his own, when he made that daring mor 
tal deserve to come forth unsheathed from his limbs. •' 

5 CcEsar, or bard ] So Petrarch, Son. Par, Prima 

Arbor vittorios\ trionfale, 
Onor d' imperauori e di poeti. 

-\nd Frezzi. II Quadrir., lib. iii. cap. 14. 

alloro, 

Che imperatori e' poeti corona. 

find Spenser. F. a., b. i. c. 1, st. 9. 

The laurel, meed of mighty conquerours, 
Anc 1 poets sage 



31-53. PARADISE, Canto I. 405 

From the Peneian foliage, when one breast 
Is with such thirst inspired. From a small spark 1 
Great flame hath risen : after me, perchance, 
Others with better voice may pray, and gain, 
From the Cyrrhsean city, answer kind. 

Through divers passages, the world's bright lamp 
Rises to mortals ; but through that 2 which joins 
Four circles with the threefold cross, in best 
Course, and in happiest constellation 3 set, 
He comes ; and, to the worldly wax, best gives 
Its temper and impression. Morning there, 4 
Here eve was well nigh by such passage made ; 
And whiteness had o'erspread that hemisphere, 
Blackness the other part ; when to the left 
I saw Beatrice turn'd, and on the sun 
Gazing, as never eagle fix'd his ken. 
As from the first a second beam 6 is wont 
To issue, and reflected upwards rise, 
Even as a pilgrim bent on his return ; 
So of her act, that through the eyesight pass'd 
Into my fancy, mine was form'd : and straight, 
Beyond our mortal wont, I fix'd mine eyes 
Upon the sun. Much is allow'd us there, 

1 From a small spark.] 

7io\\dv r 1 opei ttvo if £vb$ 

UTTtpixaroi ivdopbv aiaruaev v\av. 

Upon the mountain from one spark hath leapt 
The fire, that hath a mighty forest burn'd. 

Pindar, Pijth. iii. 67. 

2 Through, that.] " Where the four circles, the horizon, the 
zodiac, the equator, and the equinoctial colure join ; the last 
three intersecting each other so as to form three crosses, as 
may be seen in the armillary sphere." 

3 In happiest constellation.] Aries. Some understand the 
planet Venus by the " miglior stella." 

4 Morning- there.] It was morning where he then was, and 
about eventide on the earth. 

5 To the left.] Being in the opposite hemisphere to ours* 
Beatrice, that she may behold the rising sun, turns herself to 
the left. 

6 As from the first a second beam.] " Like a reflected sun 
beam," which he compares to a pilgrim hastening heme* 
tvards. 

Ne simil tanto mai raggio secondo 

Dal primo usci. Filicaja, canz. xv. st. 4. 

Sicut vir in peregrinatione constitutes, omni studio, om 
mque conatu domuin redire festinat, ac retrorsum non respi 
tit sed ad domtim, quam reliquerat, reverti desiderat. Alberic* 
Visio, § 25. 



406 THE VISION. 54-78 

That here exceeds our power : thanks to the place 
Made 1 for the dwelling of the human kind 

I suffer' d it not long- ; and yet so long. 
That I beheld it bickering sparks around. 
As iron that comes boiling from the fire. 2 
And suddenly upon the day appear' d 3 
A day new-risen ; as he, who hath the power, 
Had with another sun bedeck'' d the sky. 

Her eyes fast fix'd on the eternal wheels. 4 
Beatrice stood unmoved ; and I with ken 
Fix'd upon her, from upward gaze removed. 
At her aspect, such inwardly became 
As Glaucus, 5 when he tasted cf the herb 
That made him peer among the ocean gods: 
Words may not tell of that transhuman change : 
And therefore let the example serve, though we&k^ 
For those whom grace hath better proof in Btore. 

1 Made.] And therefore best adapted, says Venturi. to the 
good temperament and vigor of the human body and its fac- 
ulties. The Poet speaks of the terrestrial paradise where he 
then was. 

2 As iron that comes boiling from the fire.\ Ardentem. et 
scintillas emiuentem. ac si ferrum cum de fo/nace trahitur. 
Alberici Visio, $ 5. This simile is repeated, % 16. 

So Milton. P. L., b. iii. 594. 

' As glowing iron with fire. 

s Upon the day appear'd.] 

If the heaven had ywonne 

All new of God another Sonne. 

Chaucer. First Booke of Fame. 
E par ch' asgiunsa tin altro sole a! cfcelo. 

Ariosto, 0. F., c. x. st. 109. 
Ed ecco un lustro lampeggiar d' intorno 
Che sole a sole aggionse e giorno a giorno. 

Mari.no. Adone., c. xi. St. 27, 
Quando a paro col sol ma piii lucente 
L'angelo gli appari sull 1 oriente. Tzxso, G. L.. c. i. 

seems another mom 

Ris'n on mid noon. Milton, P. L.. b. v. 311 

Compare Euripides. Ion. 1550. 'AidijX 10 v Kc-ocwrrov. 

4 Eternal wheels.} The heavens, erernaL and always cir- 
cling. 

s As Glaucus.] Ovid.. Met., lib. xiii. fab. 9. Plato, in the 
tenth book of the Republic, makes a very noble comparison 
from Glaucus, but applies it differently." Edit. Bipont.. vol. 
vii. p. 317. Berkeley appears not to have been aware of the 
passage, when he says that "Proclus compares the soul, in 
her descent, invested' with growing prejudices, to Glaucus 
diving to the bottom of the sea. and there contracting divers 
coats of sea-weed, coral, and shells, which stick close to him, 
%nd conceal his true shaye." Sir-is., Ed. 1744. p. 151. 



71-102 PARADISE, Canto I. 407 

If 1 I were only what thou didst create, 
Then newly, Love ! by whom the heaven is ruled ; 
Thou know'st, who by thy light didst bear me up. 
When as the wheel which thou dost ever guide, 
Desired Spirit ! with its harmony, 2 
Temper'd of thee and measured, charm'd mine ear 
Then seem'd to me so much of heaven 3 to blaze 
With the sun's flame, that rain or flood ne'er made 
A lake so broad. The newness of the sound, 
And that great light, inflamed me with desire, 
Keener than e'er was felt, to know their cause. 

Whence she, who saw me, clearly as myself, 
To calm my troubled mind, before I ask'd, 
Open'd her lips, and gracious thus began : 
" With false imagination thou thyself 
Makest dull ; so that thou seest not the thing, 
Which thou hadst seen, had that been shaken off". 
Thou art not on the earth as thou believest ; 
For lightning, scaped from its own proper place, 
Ne'er ran, as thou hast hither now return'd." 

Although divested of my first-raised doubt 
By those brief words accompanied with smiles, 
Yet in new doubt was I entangled more, 
And said : " Already satisfied, I rest 
From admiration deep ; but now admire 
How I above those lighter bodies rise." 

Whence, after utterance of a piteous sigh, 
She towards me bent her eyes, with such a look, 
As on her phrensied child a mother casts ; 
Then thus began : " Among themselves all things 
Have order ; and from hence the form, 4 which makes 
The universe resemble God. In this 

1 If.] "Thou, O divine Spirit, knowest whether I had not 
risen above my human nature, and were not merely such as 
thou hadst then formed me." 

2 Harmony.] The harmony of the spheres. 

And after that the melodie herd he 
That cometh of thilke speris thryis three, 
That welles of musike ben and melodie 
In this world here, and cause of harmonie. 

Chaucer, The Assemble of Foules. 

In their motion harmony divine 

So smooths her charming tones, that God's own ear 
Listens delighted. Milton, P. L., b. v. 627. 

3 So much of heaven.] The sphere of fire, as Lombardi well 
explains it. 

4 From hence the form.] This order it is, that gives to the 
universe the form of unity, and therefore of resemblance t<i 
God. 



408 THE VISION. 103 12J 

The higher creatures see the printed steps 

Of that eternal worth, which is the end 

Whither the line is drawn. 1 All natures lean, 

In this their order, diversely ; some more, 

Some less approaching to their primal source. 

Thus they to different havens are moved on 

Through the vast sea of being, and each one 

With instinct given, that bears it in its course : 

This to the lunar sphere directs the fire ; 

This moves the hearts of mortal animals ; 

This the brute earth together knits, and binds. 

Nor only creatures, void of intellect, 

Are aim'd at by this bow ; but even those, 

That have intelligence and love, are pierced. 

That Providence, who so well orders all, 

With her own light makes ever calm the heaven,' 

In which the substance, that hath greatest speed, 3 

Is turn'd : and thither now, as to our seat 

Predestined, we are carried by the force 

Of that strong cord, that never looses dart 

But at fair aim and glad. Yet is it true, 

That as, oft-times, but ill accords the form 

To the design of art, through sluggishness 4 

1 Whither the line is drawn.'] All things, as they have 
their beginning from the Supreme Being, so are they referred 
to Him again. 

2 The heaven.] The empyrean, which is always motion 
less. 

3 The substance, that hath greatest speed.] The primum 
mobile. 

4 Through sluggishness.] 

Perch' a risponder la materia e sorda. 
So Filicaja, canz. vi. st. 9. 

Perche a risponder la discordia e sorda. 

" The workman hath in his heart a purpose, he carrieth in 
mind the whole form which his work should have ; there 
wanteth not in him skill and desire to bring his labor to the 
best effect ; only the matter, which he hath to work on, is 
unfraimble." Hooker's Keel. Polity, b. v. § 9. 

Our Poet, in his De Monarchic, has expressed the same 
thought more fully. " Sciendum, &c," lib. ii. p. 115. " We 
must know, that as art is found in a triple degree, in the 
mind that is of the artist, in the instrument, and in the 
matter formed by art, so we may contemplate nature also in 
a triple degree. For nature is in the mind of the first mover, 
who is God ; then in heaven, as in an instrument, by means 
of which the similitude of the eternal goodness is unfolded 
in variable matter ; and, as the artist being perfect, and the 
instrument in the best order, if there is any fault in the form 
of art, it is to be imputed only to the matter ; so, since God 
reaches to the end of perfection, and his instrument, which 
\s heaven, is not in any wise deficient of due perfection, (aa 



12G-137. PARADISE, Canto II. 40$ 

Of unreplying matter ; so this course 1 
Is sometimes quitted by the creature, who 
Hath power, directed thus, to bend elsewheie; 
As from a cloud the fire is seen to fall, 
From its original impulse warp'd, to earth, 
By vicious fondness. Thou no more admire 
Thy soaring, (if I rightly deem,) than lapse 
Of torrent downwards from a mountain's height. 
There would 2 in thee for wonder be more cause, 
[f, free of hinderance, thou hadst stay'd below, 
As living fire unmoved upon the earth." 

So sc.id, she turn'd toward the heaven her face. 



CANTO II. 

ARGUMENT. 

Dante and his celestial guide enter the moon. The cause of 
the spots or shadows, which appear in that body, is ex- 
plained to him. 

All ye, who in small bark 3 have following sail'd, 
Eager to listen, on the advent arous track 
Of my proud keel, that singing cuts her way, 
Backward return with speed, and your own shores 
Revisit ; nor put out to open sea, 
Where losing me, perchance ye may remain 
Bewilder d in deep maze. The way I pass, 
Ne'er yet was run : Minerva breathes the gale : 
Apollo guides me ; and another Nine, 



appears from what we know by philosophy concerning heav- 
en) it remaineth that whatever fault is in inferior things, is a 
fault of the matter worked on, and clean beside the intention 
of God and of heaven." 

1 This course.] Some beings, abusing the liberty given 
them by God, are repugnant to the order established by Him. 
3 There would.'] Hence, perhaps, Milton : 

in our proper motion we ascend 

Up to our native seat : descent and fall 
To us were adverse. P. L., b. i'. v. 77: 

• In small bark.] 

Con la barchetta mia cantando in rima. 

Pulci, Morg. Magg., c. xxviii 
Io me n'andrb con la barchetta mia, 
Quanto Tacqua comporta un picciol legno. Itid- 

Say, shall my little bark attendant sail ? 

Pope, Essay on Man, Ep. iv 



410 THE VISION. 10 46 

To my rapt sight, the arctic beams reveal. 
Ye other few who have outstretch'd the neck 
Timely for food of angels, on which here 
They live, yet never know satiety ; 
Through the deep brine ye fearless may put out 
Your vessel ; marking well the furrow broad 
Before you in the wave, that on both sides 
Equal returns. Those, glorious, who pass'd o'er 
To Colchos, wonder'd not as ye will do, 
When they saw Jason following the plough. 

The increate perpetual thirst, 1 that draws 
Toward the realm of God's own form, bore us 
Swift almost as the heaven ye behold. 

Beatrice upward gazed, and I on her ; 
And in such space as on the notch a dart 
Is placed, then loosen'd flies, I saw myself 
Arrived, where wondrous thing engaged my sight 
Whence she, to whom no care of mine was hid, 
Turning to me, with aspect glad as fair, 
Bespake me : " Gratefully direct thy mind 
To God, through whom to this first star 2 we come." 

Meseem'd as if a cloud had cover'd us, 
Translucent, solid, firm, and polish'd bright, 
Like adamant, which the sun's beam had smit. 
Within itself the ever-during pearl 
Received us ; as the wave a ray of light 
Receives, and rests unbroken. If I then 
Was of corporeal frame, and it transcend 
Our weaker thought, how one dimension thus 
Another could endure, which needs must be 
If body enter body ; how much more 
Must the desire inflame us to behold 
That essence, which discovers by what means 
God and our nature join'd! There will be seen 
That, which we hold through faith ; not shown by 
But in itself intelligibly plain, [proof, 

E'en as the truth 3 that man at first believes. 



] The increate perpetual ihirst.l The desire of celestial 
beatitude, natural to the soul. 

3 This first star.] The moon. 

3 E'en as the truth.] " Like a truth, that does not need 
demonstration, but is self-evident." Thus Plato, at the con- 
clusion of the Sixth Book ot the Republic, lays down foul 
principles of information in the human mind: u 1st, intuition 
of self-evident truth, v6rjais; 2d, demonstration by reasoning, 
Udvota ; 3d, belief en testimony, leteng ; 4th, probability, oi 



417-70. PARADISE, Canto n. 41 1 

I answer'd: " Lady ! I w.th thoughts devout, 
Such as I best can frame, give thanks to him, 
Who hath removed me from the mortal world. 
But tell, I pra}' thee, whence the gloomy spots 
Upon this body, which below on earth 
Give rise to talk of Cain 1 in fabling quaint?" 

She somewhat smiled, then spake : " If mortals en 
In their opinion, when the key of sense 
Unlocks not, surely wonder's weapon keen 
Ought not to pierce thee : since thou fmd'st, the wing 
Of reason to pursue the senses' flight 
Are short. But what thy own thought is, declare." 

Then I : " What various here above appears. 
Is caused, I deem, by bodies dense or rare." 2 

She then resumed : " Thou certainly wilt see 
In falsehood thy belief o'erwhelm'd, if well 
Thou listen to the arguments which I 
Shall bring to face it. The eighth sphere displays 
Numberless lights, 3 the which, in kind and size, 
May be remark'd of different aspects : 
If rare or dense of that were cause alone, 
One single virtue then would be in all ; 
Alike distributed, or more, or less. 
Different virtues needs must be the fruits 



conjecture, tiKaoia." I cannot resist adding a passage to the 
like effect from Hooker's Ecclesiastical Polity, b. ii. § 7. " The 
truth is, that the mind of man desireth evermore to know 
the truth, according to the most infallible certainty which 
the nature of things can yield. The greatest assurance 
generally with all men, is that which we have by plain as- 
pect and intuitive beholding. Where we cannot attain unto 
this, there what appeareth to be true, by strong and invinci- 
ble demonstration, such as wherein it is not by any way 
possible to be deceived, thereunto the mind doth neces- 
sarily assent, neither is it in the choice thereof to do other- 
wise. And in case these both do fail, then which way 
greatest probability leadeth, thither the mind doth evermore 
incline." 

i Cain.] Compare Hell, Canto xx. 123, and note. 

2 By bodies dense or rare.] Lombardi observes, that the 
opinion respecting the spots in the moon, which Dante repre- 
sents himself as here yielding to the arguments of Beatrice 
is professed by our author in the Convito, so that we may 
conclude that work to have been composed before this por- 
tion of the Divina Commedia. " The shadow in the moon 
is nothing else but the rarity of its body, which hinders the 
rays of the sun from terminating and being reflected, as in 
other parts of it." P. 70. 

3 Nimberless lights.] The fixed stars, which &Ser both in 
bulknid splendor. 



412 THE VISION. 71-103 

Of formal principles ; and these, save one, : 

Will by thy reasoning be destroy' d. Beside, 

If rarity weie of that dusk the cause, 

Which thou inquirest, either in some part 

That planet must throughout be void, nor fed 

With its own matter ; or, as bodies share 

Their fat and leanness, in like manner this 

Must in its volume change the leaves. 2 The first, 

If it were true, had through the sun's eclipse 

Been manifested, by transparency 

Of light, as through aught rare beside effused 

But this is not. Therefore remains to see 

The other cause : and, if the other fall, 

Erroneous so must prove what seem'd to thee. 

If not- from side to side this rarity 

Pass through, there needs must be a limit, whence 

Its contrary no farther lets it pass. 

And hence the beam, that from without proceeds, 

Must be pour'd back ; as color comes, through glass 

Reflected, which behind it lead conceals. 

Now wilt thou say, that there of murkier hue, 

Than in the other part, the ray is shown, 

By being thence refracted farther back. 

From this perplexity will free thee soon 

Experience, if thereof thou trial make, 

The fountain whence your arts derive their streams 

Three mirrors shalt thou take, and two remove 

From thee alike ; and more remote the third, 

Betwixt the former pair, shall meet thine eyes • 

Then turn'd toward them, cause behind thy back 

A light to stand, that on the three shall shine, 

And thus reflected come to thee from all. 

Though that, beheld most distant, do not stretch 

A space so ample, yet in brightness thou 

Wilt own it equalling the rest. But now, 



1 Save one.] "Except that principle of rarity and dens*- 
ness which thou hast assigned." By "formal principles/' 
principj formalize meant "constitient or essential causes." 

Milton, in imitation of this passage, introduces the angel 
arguing with Adam respecting the causes of the spots on the 
moon. But, as a late French translator of the Paradise, M 
Artaud, well remarks, his reasoning is physical ; that of Dante 
partly metaphysical and partly theologic. 

Whence in her visage round those spots, unpurged 
Vapors not yet into her substance turn'd. 

Milton, P. L., b. v 420. 

2 Change the leaves.] Would, like leaves of parchment, bs 
iarker in some part than others. 



106-139 PARADISE, Caxto II. 413 

As under snow the ground, if the warm ray- 
Smites it, remains dismantled of the hue 
And cold, that cover d it before ; so thee 
Dismantled in thy mind, I will inform 
With light so lively, that the tremulous beam 
Shall quiver where it falls. Within the heaven, 
Where peace divine inhabits, circles round 
A body, in whose virtue lies the being 
Of all that it contains. The following heaven, 
That hath so many lights, this being divides, 
Through different essences, from it distinct, 
And yet contain'd within it. The other orbs 
Their separate distinctions variously 
Dispose, for their own seed and produce apt. 
Thus do these organs of the worid proceed, 
As thou beholdest now, from step to step ; 
Their influences from above deriving, 
And thence transmitting downwards. Mark me well 
How through this passage to the truth I ford, 
The truth thou lovest ; that thou henceforth, alone, 
]Mayst know to keep the shallows, safe, untold. 

" The virtue and motion of the sacred orbs, 
As mallet by the workman's hand, must needs 
By blessed movers 2 be inspired. This heaven, 3 
Made beauteous by so many luminaries, 
From the deep spirit, 4 that moves its circling sphere, 
Its image takes and impress as a seal : 
And as the soul, that dwells within your dust, 
Through members different, yet together form'd, 
In different powers resolves itself; e'en so 
The intellectual efficacy unfolds 
Its goodness multiplied throughout the stars ; 
On its own unity revolving still. 
Different virtue 5 compact different 

1 Within the heaven.'] According to our Poet's system, 
there are ten heavens. The heaven, " where peace divine 
inhabits," is the empyrean ; the body within it, that " circles 
round," is the primum mobile ; " the following heaven," that 
of the fixed stars ; and " the other orbs," the seven lower 
heavens, are Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Venus, Mercury 
and the Moon. Thus Milton, P. L., b. iii. 481 : 

They pass the planets seven, and pass the fix'd, 
And that crystalline sphere whose balance weighs 
The trepidation talk'd, and that first moved. 

2 By blessed movers,'] By angels. 

3 This heaven.] The heaven of fixed stars. 
* The deep spirit.] The moving angel. 

6 Different virtue.] " There is one glory of the sun, and 
Another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars for 



414 THE VISION 140-148 

Makes with the precious bjfy i: enhvens, 
With wbich ;: knits, as 1 

zliic. nature 
The virtue minglec thi 
Ab joy through pupil «ft 
From hence proc-eecs :.:: 
Seems do tie rent. an. a not 

Proportion a to us power. 



-"- z. '- 


'-_•-.- sl^es, 




':'"-. 








?e •:: rare. 




m g - 


- r a " - - 




COS/ 


o Jear. w 





CANTO III. 

ARGUMENT. 

I 1 -, tie :::::::; D.-.nte :vue:s vritii F::::-.:::i. tie 50-:er -f F::~ r ? 
who tells him that this planet is allotted to those, who, 
after having made profession of chastity and a religions 
fife, had been compelled to violate their vows; and she 
then points out to him the spirit of the Empress Costanza. 

That son, 3 wbich erst with love my bosom warm'd : 

Hid of fair truth unveiFd the sweet aspect. 
By proof of Eight, and of the false reproof; 

And I. to own rnyseit c:nT:n:ed o:uo free 
Of doubt, as much as needed, raised my head 
Erect for =pee:h. But soon a sight appear'd. 
Which, em intent to mark it, held me hx'f. 
That :: confession I no longer thought. 

As through translucent and smot: u o s. or wave 
Clear and umnoved, and flowing not so deep 
As thai its bed is dark, the shape returns 
S : taint of our impictured lineaments, 
That., on white forehead set, a pearl as strong* 
Comes to the eye ; such saw I many a face, 
Ah stretch" d to speak : from whence I straight con- 
ceived, 
Between the man and fountain, amorous flame. 



one star differeth from another star in glory.** 1 Cor., xv 41 
The words are nearly Plato 3t Panl seems to 

bad riew throughout this part of his argument. 
MTa pel _:. . ..: h. cek^vns' fiia Sf, rw* 

■ i rum aerpwv c. t. X. Epinemis., Ed. Bip. v. ix. p. 262. 

i Tkt virtue mingled.} Vlrg. 2En~, lib. Ti. 7C4. 
Principio ccelum, &c 

a That sun.] Beatrice. 

3 Delusion.] u An error the contrary to that of Narcissus ; 
because he mistook a shadow for a substance ; I, a substanc* 
for a shadow." 



18-60. PARADISE, Canto II i 15 

Sudden, as I perceived them, deeming these 
Reflected semblances, to see of whom 
They were, I turn'd mine eyes, and nothing saw ; 
Then turn'd them back, directed on the light 
Of my sweet guide, who, smiling, shot forth beams 
From her celestial eyes. " Wonder not thou," 
She cried, " at this my smiling, when I see 
Thy childish judgment ; since not yet on truth 
It rests the foot, but, as it still is wont, 
Makes thee fall back in unsound vacancy. 
True substances are these, which thou behold'st, 
Hither through failure of their vow exiled. 
But speak thou with them ; listen, and believe, 
That the true light, which fills them with desire, 
Permits not from its beams their feet to stray." 

Straight to the shadow, which for converse seem'd 
Most earnest, I address'd me ; and began, 
As one by over-eagerness perplex'd : 
" O spirit, born for joy ! who in the rays 
Of life eternal, of that sweetness know'st 
The flavor, which, not tasted, passes far 
All apprehension ; me it well would please, 
If thou wouldst tell me of thy name, and this 
Your station here." Whence she with kindness prompt, 
And eyes glistering with smiles: " Our charity, 
To any wish by justice introduced, 
Bars not the door ; no more than she above, 
Who would have all her court be like herself. 
I was a virgin sister in the earth : 
And if thy mind observe me well, this form, 
With such addition graced of loveliness, 
Will not conceal me long ; but thou wilt know 
Piccarda, 1 in the tardiest sphere thus placed, 
Here 'mid these other blessed also blest, 
Our hearts, whose high affections burn alone 
With pleasure from the Holy Spirit conceived, 
Admitted to his order, dwell in joy. 
And this condition, which appears so low, 
Is for this cause assign'd us, that our vows 
Were, in some part, neglected and made void." 

Whence I to her replied : " Something divine 
Beams in your countenances wondrous fair ; 
From former knowledge quite transmuting you. 

1 Piccarda.] The sister of Corso Donati, and of Forese, 
whom we have seen in the Purgatory-, Canto xxiii. Petrarch 
has been supposed to allude to tlrs lady in his Triumph of 
Chastity, v. 160, &c. 



416 THE VISION. 61-101 

Therefore to recollect was I so slow. 
But what thou sayst hath to my memory 
Given now such aid, that to retrace your forma 
Is easier. Yet inform me, ye, who here 
Are happy ; long ye for a higher place, 
More to behold, and more in love to dwell ?" 

She with those other spirits gently smiled ; 
Then answer'd with such gladness, that she seem'd 
With love's first flame to glow : " Brother ! our wil. 
Is, in composure, settled by the power 
Of charity, who makes us will alone 
What we possess, and naught beyond desire ; 
If we should wish to be exalted more, 
Then must our wishes jar with the high will 
Of him, who sets us here ; which in these orbs 
Thou wilt confess not possible, if here 
To be in charity must needs befall, 
And if her nature well thou contemplate. 
Rather it is inherent in this state 
Of blessedness, to keep ourselves within 
The divine will, by which our wills with his 
Are one. So that as we, from step to step, 
Are placed throughout this kingdom, pleases all, 
Even as our King, who in us plants his will ; 
And in his will is our tranquillity : 
It is the mighty ocean, whither tends 
Whatever it creates and nature makes." 

Then saw I clearly how each spot in heaven 
Is Paradise, though with like gracious dew 
The supreme virtue shower not over all. 

But as it chances, if one sort of food 
Hath satiated, and of another still 
The appetite remains, that this is ask'd, 
And thanks for that return'd ; e'en so did I, 
In word and motion, bent from her to learn 
What web it was, 1 through which she had not dra^n 
The shuttle to its point. She thus began : 
" Exalted worth and perfectness of life 
The Lady 2 higher up inshrine in heaven, 
By whose pure laws upon your nether earth 



1 What web it was j " What vow of religious life it was 
that she had been hindered from completing, had been com 
pelled to break.'' 

a The Lady.] St. Clare, the foundress of the order called 
*ifter her. She was born of opulent and noble parents at 
Assisi, in 1193, and died in 1253. See Biogr. Univ., t. i. p 59$ 
Bvo. Paris, 1813. 



101-121. 1ARADISE, Canto III 417 

The robe and veil they wear ; to that intent, 
That e'en till death they may keep watch, or sleep, 
With their great bridegroom, who accepts each vow, 
Which to his gracious pleasure love conforms. 
I from the world, to follow her, when young 
Escaped ; and, in her vesture mantling me, 
Made promise of the way her sect enjoins. 
Thereafter men, for ill than good more apt, 
Forth snatch'd me from the pleasant cloister's pale- 
God knows 1 how, after that, my life was framed. 
This other splendid shape, which thou heboid's! 
At my right side, burning with all the light 
Of this our orb, what of myself I tell 
May to herself apply. From her, like me 
A sister, with like violence were torn 
The saintly folds, that shaded her fair brows. 
E'en when she to the world again was brought 
In spite of her own will and better wont, 
Yet not for that the bosom's inward veil 
Did she renounce. This is the luminary 
Of mighty Constance, 2 who from that loud blast, 

1 God knows.] Rodolfo da Tossignano, Hist. Seraph. Relig. 
P. i. p. 138, as cited by Lombardi, relates the following le- 
gend of Piccarda : — " Her brother Corso, inflamed with rage 
against his virgin sister, having joined with him Farinata. 
an infamous assassin, and twelve other abandoned rufm-nsj 
entered the monastery by a ladder, and carried away his 
sister forcibly to his own house ; and then tearing off her 
religious habit, compelled her to go in a secular garment to 
her nuptials. Before the spouse of Christ came together 
with her new husband, she knelt down before a crucifix and 
recommended her virginity to Christ. Soon after her whole 
body was smitten with leprosy, so as to strike grief and 
horror into the beholders ; and thus in a few days, through 
the divine disposal, she passed with a palm of virginity to 
the Lord." Perhaps, adds the worthy Franciscan, our Poet 
not being able to certify himself entirely of this occurrence, 
has chosen to pass it over discreetly, "by making Piccarda 
say — 

God knows how, after that, my life was framed. 

2 Constance.] Daughter of Ruggieri, king of Sicily, who 
being taken by force out of a monastery where she had pro- 
fessed, was married to the Emperor Plenry VI. and by him 
was mother to Frederick II. She was fifty years old or more 
at the time, and " because it was not credited that she could 
have a child at that age, she was delivered in a pavilion, and 
it was given out that any lady who pleased was at liberty 
to see her. Many came, and saw her; and the suspicion 
ceased." Ricordano Malaspina in Muratori, Rer. It. Script.^ 
t. viii. p. 939 ; and G. Villani, in the same words, Hist., lib. v. 
c. 16. 

The French translator above-mentioned speaks of her hav- 
ing poisoned her husband. The death of Henry VI. is r<? 



4]8 THE VISION. 12sM*i 

Which blew the second 1 over Suabia's realm, 
That power produced, which was the third and last* 

She ceased from further talk, and then began 
" Ave Maria" singing ; and with that song 
Vanish'd, as heavy substance through deep wave 

Mine eye, that, far as it was capable, 
Pursued her, when in dimness she was lost, 
Turn'd to the mark where greater want impell'd, 
And bent on Beatrice all its gaze. 
But she, as lightning, beam'd upon my looks ; 
So that the sight sustain'd it not at first. 
Whence I to question her became less prompt. 



CANTO IV. 



ARGUMENT. 

While the} 7 still continue in the moon, Beatrice removes cer 
tain doubts which Dante had conceived respecting the 
place assigned to the blessed, and respecting the will ab- 
solute or conditional. He inquires whether it is possible to 
make satisfaction for a vow broken. 

Between two kinds of food, 2 both equally 
Remote and tempting, first a man might die 
Of hunger, ere he one could freely choose. 
E'en so would stand a lamb between the maw 
Of two fierce wolves, in dread of both alike : 
E'en so between two deer 3 a dog would stand. 
Wherefore, if I was silent, fault nor praise 
I to myself impute ; by equal doubts 
Held in suspense ; since of necessity 

corded in the Chronicon Siciliae, by an anonymous writer, 
(Muratori, t. x.) but not a word of his having been poisoned 
by Constance ; and Ricordano Malaspina even mentions her 
decease as happening before that of her husband, Henry V n 
for so this author, with some others, terms him. 

1 The second.] Henry VI.. £on of Frederick I., was the 
second emperor of the house of Suabia ; and his son Fred- 
erick II. i4 the third and last." 

2 Between two kinds of food.] " Si aliqua dico sunt penitas 
Epqualia, non magis movetur homo ad unum q^am ad aliud ; 
sicut famelicus, si habet cibum aequaliter appetibilem in dV 
versis partibus, et secundum aequalem distantiam, non magi 3 
movetur ad unum quam ad alterurn." Thomas Jlquinas, 
Summ. Theolog., i™ a ii d * Partis, duestio. xiii. Art. vi 

3 Between two deer.] 

Tigris ut, auditis, divers^, valle duorum, 
Extimulata fame, mugitibus armentorum, 
Nesc'.". utrb potius ruat, et ruere ardet utroque. 

Ovid, Metam., lib. v. J68. 



10-31. PARADISE, Canto IV. <±\\) 

It happened. Silent was I, yet desire 

Was painted in my looks ; and thus I spake 

My wish more earnestly than language couLd. 

As Daniel, 1 when the haughty king he freed 
From ire, that spurrd him on to deeds unjust 
And violent ; so did Beatrice then. 

" Well I discern," she thus her words address'd, 
" How thou art drawn by each of these desires ; a 
So that thy anxious thought is in itself 
Bound up and stifled, nor breathes freely forth. 
Thou arguest : if the good intent remain ; 
What reason that another's violence 
Should stint the measure of my fair desert ? 

" Cause too thou find'st for doubt, in that it seems t 
That spirits to the stars, as Plato 3 deenrd, 
Return. These are the questions which thy will 
Urge equally ; and therefore I, the first, 
Of that 4 will treat which hath the more of gall. 5 
Of seraphim 6 he who is most enskied, 
Moses and Samuel, and either John, 
Choose which thou wilt, nor even Mary's self, 
Have not in any other heaven their seats, 



1 Daniel.] See Daniel, ii. Beatrice did for Dante what 
Daniel did for Nebuchadnezzar, when he freed the king from 
the uncertainty respecting his dream, which had enraged 
him against the Chaldeans. Lombardi conjectures that " Fe 
si Beatrice" should be read, instead of " Fessi Beatrice ;" 
and his conjecture has since been confirmed by the Monte 
Cassino MS. 

2 By each of these desires.] His desire to have each of the 
doubts, which Beatrice mentions, resolved. 

3 Plato.] "ZvcTrjcras St k. t. A. Plato, Timaeus, v. ix. p. 326 
Edit. Bip. "The Creator, when he had framed the universe, 
distributed to the stars an equal number of souls, appointing 
to each soul its several star." 

4 Of that] Plato's opinion. 

5 Welch hath the more of gall.] Which is the more dan- 
gerous. 

6 Of Seraphim.] "He among the Seraphim who is most 
nearly united with God, Moses, Samuel, and both the Johns, 
the Baptist and the Evangelist, dwell not in any other heaven 
than do those spirits whom thou hast just beheld ; nor does 
even the blessed Virgin herself dwell in any other : nor is 
their existence either longer or shorter than that of these 
spirits." She first resolves his doubt whether souls do not 
return to their own stars, as he had read in the Timasus of 
Plato. Angels, then, and beatified spirits, she declares, dwell 
all and eternally together, only partaking more or less of the 
divine glory, in the empyrean ; although, in condescension tc 
human understanding, they appear to have different spheres 
allotted to them. 



420 THEV.SION. 32-57 

Than have those spirits which so late thou saw'st ; 

Nor more or fewer years exist ; but all 

Make the first circle 1 beauteous, diversely 

Partaking of sweet life, as more or less 

Afrlation of eternal bliss pervades them. 

Here were they shown thee, not that fate assigns 

This for their sphere, but for a sign to thee 

Of that celestial farthest from the height. 

Thus needs, that ye may apprehend, we speak ■ 

Since from things sensible alone ye learn 

That, which, digested rightly, after turns 

To intellectual. For no other cause 

The scripture, condescending graciously 

To your perception, hands and feet 2 to God 

Attributes, nor so means : and holy church 

Doth represent with human countenance 

Gabriel, and Michael, and him who made 

Tobias whole. 3 Unlike what here thou seest, 

The judgment of Timasus, 4 who affirms 

Each soul restored to its particular star ; 

Believing it to have been taken thence, 

When nature gave it to inform her mould : 

Yet to appearance his intention is 

Not what his words declare : and so to shun 

Derision, haply thus he hath disguised 

His true opinion. 5 If his meaning be, 

1 The first circle.] The empyrean. 

2 Hands and feet.] Thus Milton : — 

What surmounts the reach 

Of human sense, I shall delineate so, 
By likening spiritual to corporeal forms, 
As shall express them best. P. Z,., b. v. 575. 

These passages, rightly considered, may tend to remove th« 
scruples of some, who are offended by any attempts at repre- 
senting the Deity in pictures. 

3 Him who made 

Tobias whole.] 

Raphael, the sociable spirit, that deign'd 

To travel with Tobias, and secured 

His marriage with the seven times wedded maid. 

Ibid. 223. 
* Timaeus.] In the Convito, p. 92, our author again refers 
to the Timams of Plato, on the subject of the mundane sys- 
tem ; but it is in order to give the preference to the opinion 
respecting it held by Aristotle. 

5 His true opinion.] In like manner, our learned Stilling- 
fleet has professed himself " somewhat inclinable to think 
that Plato knew more of the lapse of mankind than he would 
openly discover, and for that end disguised it after his usual 
manner in that hypothesis of pre-existence." Origines Sar 
tree, b. iii. c. iii. § 15 



58-92. PARADISE, Canto IV. 421 

That to the influencing of these orbs revert 

The honor and the blame in human acts, 

Perchance he doth not wholly miss the truth. 

This principle, not understood aright, 

Ere while perverted well nigh all the world ; 

So that it fell to fabled names of Jove, 

And Mercury, and Mars. That other doubt, 

Which moves thee, is less harmful ; for it brings 

Xo peril of removing thee from me. 

" That, to the eye of man, 1 our justice seems 
Unjust, is argument for faith, and not 
For heretic declension. But, to the end 
This truth 2 may stand more clearly in your view, 
I will content thee even to thy wish. 

" If violence be, when that which suffers, naught 
Consents to that which forceth, not for this 
These spirits stood exculpate. For the will, 
That wills not, still survives unquench'd, and doth. 
As nature doth in fire, though violence 
Wrest it a thousand times ; for, if it yield 
Or more or less, so far it follows force. 
And thus did these, when they had power to seek 
The hallow'd place again. In them, had will 
Been perfect, such as once upon the bars 
Held Laurence 3 firm, or wrought in Scsevola 4 
To his own hand remorseless ; to the path, [back, 
Whence they were drawn, their steps had hasten'd 
When liberty return'd : but in too few, 
Resolve, so steadfast, dwells. And by these words 
If duly weiglrd, that argument is void, 
Which oft might have perplex'd thee still. But now 
Another question thwarts thee, which, to solve, 
Might try thy patience without better aid. 
I have, no doubt, instill'd into thy mind, 
That blessed spirit may not lie ; since near 

1 Tha.% to the eye of man.] " That the ways of divine jus- 
tice are often inscrutable to man, ought rather to be a motive 
to faith than an inducement to heresy." Such appears to me 
the most satisfactory explanation of the passage. 

- This truth.] That it is no impeachment of God's justice, 
if merit be lessened through compulsion of others, without 
any failure of good intention on the part of the meritorious. 
After all, Beatrice ends by admitting that there was a defect 
in the will, which hindered Constance and the others from 
seizing the first opportunity, that offered itself to them, of re* 
turning to the monastic life. 

3 Laurence.] Who suffered martyrdom in the third century. 

* Sccevola.] See Liv. Hist., D. 1, lib. ii. 12. 
36 



122 THE VISION. 

The source of puraal troth it dwells for aye 
And thou niigbtst after of Piccarda learn 

7-: C:zisz-lz- lell izezz.z:: :: zl:e veil; 
>: :ii: 5 lie s^z-zzzz :; :;:.::: i:: ::ir iiere. 

1- :: 5:!:: .;.-.. '::;:/_ z-z .: '_:_:■ :.;. :..:... : _ z :'. . 
T: i; — In: ;.:iy ;:ii r"--i-~ -—'" ziniziie : 
Yz-z, z: sli.zzz zzz-:... zzliej Jin -re Izzzz- i:z:.s;s : 



As no: zz nzzzike :"zze zzzrz-zzzz- z-zz: 
Azsolnze ill irrees z:_:z :■: z - ::. r . 



zzz.ee, 
-rise 



hat w J I'd 

11 5 ZZ Z Z 

Zi I ZZZl-ll. 



Azzec::: 

V.~- - - ■ 

T:Te:~: 
Well I 

-LZzlz^lZ-Z 

Ozz.: zz::.: 
T;-z-:z-;z: 



:■: 1 :-:.:. Me:., lib. 






53) 



120-138. PARADISE, Canto V. 423 

This doth assure me, Lady ! reverently 

To ask thee of another truth, that yet 

Is dark to me. I fain would know, if man 

By other works well done may so supply 

The failure of his vows, that in your scale 

They lack not weight." I spake ; and on mc straight 

Beatrice look'd, with eyes that shot forth sparks 

Of love celestial, in such copious stream, 

That, virtue sinking in me overpower'd, 

T turn'd ; and downwaid bent, confused, my sight. 



CANTO V. 

ARGUMENT. 

The question proposed in the last Canto is answered. Dante 
ascends with Beatrice to the planet Mercury, which is the 
second heaven ; and here he finds a multitude of spirits, 
one of whom offers to satisfy him of any thing he may de- 
sire to know from them. 

" If beyond earthly wont, 1 the flame of love 
Illume me, so that I o'ercome thy power 
Of vision, marvel not : but learn the cause 
In that perfection of the sight, which, soon 
As apprehending, hasteneth on to reach 
The good it apprehends. I well discern, 
How in thine intellect already shines 
The light eternal, which to view alone 
Ne'er fails to kindle love ; and if aught else 
Your love seduces, 'tis but that it shows 
Some ill-mark'd vestige of that primal beam. 

" This w T ould'st thou know : if failure of the vow 
By other service may be so supplied, 
As from self-question to assure the soul." 

Thus she her words, not heedless of my wish? 
Began ; and thus, as one who breaks not off 
Discourse, continued in her saintly strain. 
" Supreme of gifts, 2 which God, creating, gave 



1 If beyond earthly wont.] Dante having been unable to sus- 
tain the splendor of Beatrice, as we have seen at the end of 
the last Canto, she tells him to attribute her increase of bright- 
ness to the place in which they were. 

2 Supreme of gifts.] So in the De Monarchic, lib. i. p. 107 
and 108. "Si ergo judicium moveat," &c. "If then the 
judgment altogether move the appetite, and is in no wise 
prevented by it, it is free. But if the judgment be moved by 
the appetite in any way preventing it, it cannot be free : be- 

j it acts not of itself, but is led captive by another. And 



421 THE VISION. 19-48 

Of his free bounty, sign most evident 

Of goodness, and in his account most prized, 

Was liberty of will ; the boon, wherewith 

All intellectual creatures, and them sole, 

He hath endow'd. Hence now thou mayst infer 

Of what high worth the vow, which so is framed, 

That when man offers, God well pleased accepts 

For in the compact between God and him. 

This treasure, such as I describe it to thee, 

He makes the victim ; and of his own act. 

What compensation therefore may he find ? 

If that, whereof thou hast oblation made, 

By using well thou think'st to consecrate, 

Thou wouldst of theft 1 do charitable deed. 

Thus I resolve thee of the greater point. 

" But forasmuch as holy church, herein 
Dispensing, seems to contradict the truth 
I have discover'd to thee, yet behooves 
Thou rest a little longer at the board, 
Ere the crude aliment which thou hast ta'en, 
Digested fitly, to nutrition turn. 
Open thy mind to what I now unfold ; 
And give it inward keeping. Knowledge comes 
Of learning well retain'd, unfruitful else. 

" This sacrifice, in essence, of two things 2 
Consisteth : one is that, whereof 'tis made ; 
The covenant, the other. For the last, 
It ne'er is cancell'd, if not kept : and hence 
I spake, erewhile, so strictly of its force. 
For this it was enjoin'd the Israelites, 3 

hence it is that brutes cannot have free judgment, because 
their judgments are always prevented by appetite. And 
hence it may also appear manifest, that intellectual sub 
stances, whose wills are immutable, and likewise souls sepa- 
rated from the body, and departing from it well and holily, 
lose not the liberty of choice on account of the immutability 
of the will, but retain it most perfectly and powerfully. This 
being discerned, it is again plain, that this liberty or princi 
pie of all our liberty, is the greatest good conferred on human 
nature by God ; because by this very thing we are here made 
happy, as men ; by this we are elsewhere happy, as divine 
beings." 

1 Thou wouldst of theft.] " Licet fur de furto," &c. De 
Monarchid, lib. ii.p. 123. "Although a thief should out of 
that which he has stolen give help to a poor man, yet is that 
not to be called almsgiving." 

2 Two things.] The one, the substance of the vow, as of 
c single life for instance, or of keeping fast; the other, the 
sarnpact, or form of it. 

8 It was enjoin'd the Israelites.] See Lev. c. xii. and xivh 



49-«6. PARADISE, Canto V. 405 

Though leave were given them, as thou know'st, to 

The offering, still to offer. The other part, [change 

The matter and the substance of the vow, 

May well be such, as that, without offence, 

It may for other substance be exchanged. 

But, at his own discretion, none may shift 

The burden on his shoulders ; unreleased 

By either key, 1 the yellow and the white. 

Nor deem of any change, as less than vain, 

If the last bond 2 be not within the new 

Included, as the quatre in the six. 

No satisfaction therefore can be paid 

For what so precious in the balance weighs, 

That all in counterpoise must kick the beam. 

Take then no vow at random : ta'en, with faith 

Preserve it ; yet not bent, as Jephthah once> 

Blindly to execute a rash resolve, 

Whom better it had suited to exclaim, 

* I have done ill,' than to redeem his pledge 

By doing worse : or, not unlike to him 

In folly, that great leader of the Greeks ; 

Whence, on the altar, Iphigenia mourn'd 

Her virgin beauty, and hath since made mourn 

Both wise and simple, even all, who hear 

Of so fell sacrifice. Be ye more staid, 

O Christians ! not. like feather, by each wind 

Removeable ; nor think to cleanse yourselves 

In every water. Either testament, 

The old and new, is yours : and for your guide, 

The shepherd of the church. Let this suffice 

To save you. When by evil lust enticed, 

Remember ye be men, not senseless beasts ; 

Nor let the Jew, who dwelleth in your streets, 

Hold you in mockery. Be not, as the lamb, 

That, fickle wanton, leaves its mother's milk, 

To dally with itself in idle play." 

Such were the words that Beatrice spake 
These ended, to that region, where the world 

1 Either key.] Purgatory, Canto ix. 108. 

2 If the last bond.] If the thing substituted be not far more 
precious than that which is released. 

3 That region.] As some explain it, the east: according 
to others, the equinoctial line. Lombardi supposes it to 
mean that she looked upwards. Monti, in his Proposta, 
(vol. 3, p te 2, p. lxxix. Milan, 1826.) has adduced a passage 
from our author's Convito, which fixes the sense. Dico an- 
cora, che quanto il Cielo e piii presso al cerchio equatore, 
tanto e piO mobile per comparazione alii suoi ; perocche ha 



126 THE VISION. B7-1M 

Is liveliest, fall of . ond desire she turn'd. 

Though mainly prompt new question to propose, 
Her silence and changed look did keep me dumb 
And as the arrow, ere the cord is still. 
Leapeth unto its mark : so on we sped 
Into the second realm. There I beheld 
The dame, so joyous, enter, that the orb 
Grew brighter at her smiles : and. if the star 
Were moved to gladness, what then was my cheer. 
Whom nature hath made apt for even- chaug-i ' 

%s in a quiet and clear lake the fish, 
if aught approach them from without, do draw 
Towards it, deeming it their food ; so drew 
Full more than thousand splendors towards us : 
And in each one was heard: ; - Lo ! one arrived 
To multiply our loves V and as each came, 
The shadow, streaming forth effulgence new, 
Witness'd augmented joy. Here, Header ! think. 
If thou' didst miss the sequel of my tale. 
To know the rest how sorely thou wouldst crave 
And thou shalt see what vehement desire 
Possess'd me, soon as these had met my view. 
To know their state. •'•' O born in happy hour ! 
Thou, to whom grace vouchsafes, or ere thy close 
Of fleshly warfare, to behold the -thrones 
Of that eternal triumph : know, to us 
The light communicated, which through heaven 
Expatiates without bound. Therefore, if aught 
Thou of our beams wouldst borrow for thine aid, 
Spare not : and, of our radiance, take thy fill." 

Thus of those piteous spirits one bespake me ; 
And Beatrice next : *'•' Say on ; and trust 
As unto gods."' — :, 'How in the light supr-r 
Thou harbor'st. and from thence the virtue bri: 
That, sparkling in thine eyes, denotes thy joy. 
I mark : but, who thou art, am still to seek : 
Or wherefore, worthy spirit ! for thy lot 
This sphere 1 assign'd, that oft from mortal ken 
Is veil'd by other's beams."' I said ; and turu'd 
Toward the lustre, that with greeting kind 
Ere while had hail'd me. Forthwith, brighter far 
Than erst, it wax'd : and, as himself the sun 

piu movimento, e piu attualita, e piu vita, e piu forma, e piu 
Eocca di quello, che e sopra se, e per conseguente piu virtuo- 
so, p. 48. 

1 This sphere.'] The planet Mercury, which, being nearest 
\o the sun, is oftenest hidden by that luminary. 



129-134. PARADISE, Cantc VI. 427 

Hides through excess of light, when his warm gaze- 
Hath on the mantle of thick vapors prey'd ; 
Within its proper ray the saintly shape 
Was, through increase of gladness, thus conceal'd ; 
And, shrouded so in splendor, answer'd me, 
E'en as the tenor of my song declares 



CANTO VI. 

ARGUMENT. 

The spirit, who had offered to satisfy the inquiries of Dante, 
declares himself to be the Emperor Justinian; and aftef 
speaking of his own actions, recounts the victories, be- 
fore him, obtained under the Roman Eagle. He then 
informs our Poet that the soul of Romeo the pilgrim is in 
the same star. 

" After that Constantine the eagle turn'd 3 
Against the motions of the heaven, that roll'd 
Consenting with its course, when he of yore, 
Lavinia's spouse, was leader of the flight ; 
A hundred years twice told and mere, 3 his seat 
At Europe's extreme point, 4 the bird of Jove 
Held, near the mountains, whence he issued first : 
Tnere under shadow of his sacred plumes 
Swaying the world, till through successive hands 
To mine he came devolved. Caesar I was ; 
And am Justinian ; destined by the will 
Of that prime love, whose influence I feel, 
From vain excess to clear the incumber'd laws. 5 

1 When his warm gaze.] When the sun has dried up the 
vapors that shaded his brightness. 

2 After that Constantine the eagle turn"d.\ Constantine, in 
transferring the seat of empire from Rome to Byzantium, 
carried the eagle, the Imperial ensign, from the west to the 
east. ^Eneas, on the contrary, had, with better augury, 
moved along with the sun's course, when he passed from 
Troy to Italy. 

3 A hundred years twice told and more.] The Emperor Con- 
stantine entered Byzantium in 324 ; and Justinian began his 
reign in 527 

4 At Europe's extreme point. J Constantinople being situ- 
ated at the extreme of Europe, and on the borders of Asia, 
near those mountains in the neighborhood of Troy, from 
whence the first founders of Rome had emigrated. 

5 To clear the incumbered laws.] The cede of laws was 
abridged and reformed by Justinian. 

Giustiniano son io, disse il primajo, 

Che '1 troppo e '1 van secai for delle leggi, 
Ora soggette ail' arme e al denajo. 

Frezzi, 11 Quadr >., lib. iv. cap. 13 



i2S TH£ VISION. 14--5S 

Or ere that work engaged me, I did hold 

In Christ one nature only ;* with such faith 

Contented. But the blessed Agapete, 2 

Who was chief shepherd, he with warning voice 

To the true faith recall'd me. I believed 

His words: and what he taught, new plainly see, 

As thou in every contradiction seest 

The true and false opposed. Soon as my feet 

Were to the church reclaim'd, to my great task, 

By inspiration of God's grace impelFd, 

I gave me wholly ; and consign'd mine arms 

To Belisarius, with whom heaven's right hand 

Was link'd in such conjointment, 'twas a sign 

That I should rest. To thy first question thus 

I shape mine answer, which were ended here, 

But that its tendency doth prompt perforce 

To some addition ; that thou well mayst mark, 

What reason on each side they have to plead, 

By whom that holiest banner is withstood, 

Both who pretend its power 3 and who oppose. 4 

" Beginning from that hour, when Pallas died 5 
To give it rule, behold the valorous deeds 
Have made it worthy reverence. Not unknown 6 
To thee, how for three hundred years and more 
It dwelt in Alba, up to those fell lists 



1 In Christ one nature only.] Justinian is said to have bc€M 
a follower of the heretical opinions held by Eutyches, " Yrhd 
taught that in Christ there was but one nature, viz. that of 
the incarnate word." .Madeline's Jlosheim, torn. ii. cent. v. 
p. ii. cap. v. § 33. 

2 Agapete.] " Agapetus, Bishop of Rome, whose Scheda 
Itegiaraddressed to the Emperor Justinian, procured him a 
place among the wisest and most judicious writers of this 
century." Ibid., cent. vi. p. ii. cap. ii. § 8. Compare Fazie 
degli Uberti, Dittamondo, 1. ii. cap. xvi. 

s Who pretend its power.] The Ghibellmes 

4 And who oppose.] The Guelphs. 

5 Pallas died.] See Virgil, JEn., lib. x. 

e JSTot unknown.] In the second book of his treatise L)9 
Monarchia, where Dante endeavors to prove that the Roman 
people had a right to govern the world, he refers to theh 
conquests and successes in nearly the same order as in this 
passaae. "The Roman," he affirms, "might truly say, as 
the Apostle did to Timothy, There is laid up for me a crown 
of righteousness ; laid up, "that is, in the eternal providence 
of God." p. 131. And again: "Now it is manifest, that by 
dud (per duellum) the Roman people acquired the Empire; 
therefore they acquired it by right, to prove which is the main 
purpose of the present book." p. 132. 



39 56. PARADISE, Canto VI. 429 

Where, for its sake, were met the rival three ; l 
Nor aught unknown to thee, which it achieved 
Down 2 from the Sabines' wrorg to Lucrece' wo ; 
With its seven kings conquering the nation^ round ; 
Nor all it wrought, by Roman worthies borne 
'Gainst Brennus and the Epirot prince, 3 and hosts 
Of single chiefs, or states in league combined 
Of social warfare : hence, Torquatus stern, 
And Quintius 4 named of his neglected locks, 
The Decii, and the Fabii hence acquired 
Their fame, which I with duteous zeal embalm. 
By it the pride of Arab hordes 6 was quell'd, 
When they, led on by Hannibal, o'eipass'd 
The Alpine rocks, whence glide thy currents, Po ! 
Beneath its guidance, in their prime of days 
Scipio and Pompey triumph'd ; and that hill, 7 
Under whose summit 8 thou didst see the light, 
Rued its stern bearing. After, near the hour, 9 



1 The rival three.\ The Horatii and Curiatii. 

2 Down.] " From the rape of the Sabine women to the vio« 
\ation of Lucretia." 

3 The Epirot prince.'] King Pyrrhus. 

4 Quintius.] Quintius Cincinnatus. 

E Cincinnato dall 1 inculta chioma. Petrarca. 

Compare De Monarchia, lib. ii. p. 121, &c. " Itaque, in quit, 
et majores nostri," &c. 

5 Embalm.] The word in the original is " mirro," which 
some think is put for " miro," " I behold or regard ;" and oth- 
ers understand, as I have rendered it. 

6 Arab koraes.} The Arabians seem to be put for the bar- 
barians in general. Lombardi's comment is, that as the 
Arabs are an Asiatic people, and it is not recorded that Han- 
nibal had any other troops except his own countrymen the 
Carthaginians, who were Africans, we must understand that 
Dante denominates that people, Arabs, on account of their 
Drigin. " Ab Ifrico Arabia? felicis rege, qui omnium primus 
hanc terram (Africam) incoluisse fertur," &c. Leo Africanus- 
Africa Descriptio, lib. i. cap. i. 

' That hill. | The city of Fesula 1 , which was sacked by the 
Romans after the defeat of Catiline. 

8 Under whose summit.] " At the foot of which is situated 
Florence, thy birthplace." 

9 Near the hour.] Near the time of our Saviour's birth. 
"The immeasurable goodness of the Deity being willing 
again to conform to itself the human crea'ture, which by 
transgresjion of the first man had from God departed, and 
fallen from his likeness, it was determined in that most high 
and closest consistory of the Godhead, the Trinity, that the 
Son of God should descend upon earth to make this agree- 
ment. And becaise it was behoveful, that at his comings 
the world, not on y the heaven but the earth, should be in 



130 THE VISION. 57-83 

When heaven was minded that o'er all the world 

His own deep calm should brood, to Caesar's hand 

Did Rome consign it ; and what then it wrought 1 

From Var unto the Rhine, saw Isere's flood, 

Saw Loire and Seine, and every vale, that fills 

The torrent Rhone. What after that it wrought. 

When from Ravenna it came forth, and leap'd 

The Rubicon, was of so bold a flight, 

That tongue nor pen may follow it. Towards Spain 

It wheel'd its bands, then toward Dyn^achium smote, 

And on Pharsalia, with so fierce a plunge, 

E'en the warm Nile was conscious to the pang ; 

Its native shores Antandros, and the streams 

Of Simois revisited, and there 

Where Hector lies ; then ill for Ptolemy 

His pennons shook again ; lightning thence fell 

On Juba ; and the next, upon your west, 

At sound of the Pompeian trump, return'd. 

" What following, and in its next bearer's gripe, 2 
It wrought, is now by Cassius and Brutus 
Bark'd of 3 in hell ; and by Perugia's sons, 
And Modena's, was mourn'd. Hence weepeth still 
Sad Cleopatra, who, pursued by it, 
Took from the adder black and sudden death. 
With him it ran e'en to the Red Sea coast ; 
With him composed the world to such a peace, 
That of his temple Janus barr'd the door. 

" But all the mighty standard yet had wrought, 
And was appointed to perform thereafter, 
Throughout the mortal kingdom which it sway'd, 
Falls in appearance dwindled and obscured, 
If one with steady eye and perfect thought 
On the third Csesar 4 look ; for to his hands, 

the best possible disposition ; and the best disposition of th« 
earth is, when it is a monarchy, that is, all under one prince, 
as hath been said above ; therefore through the divine fore 
cast was ordained that people and that city for the accom 
plishment, namely, the glorious Rome." Convito, p. 138. 
The same argument is repeated at the conclusion of the first 
book of our author's treatise " De Monarchist." 

1 JVhav then it wrought.] In the following fifteen lines the 
Poet has comprised the exploits of Julius Csesar, for which, 
and for the allusions in the greater part of this speech of Jus- 
linian's, I must refer my reader to the history of Rome. 

2 In its next bearer s gripe.] With Augustus Csesar. 

3 Baric 1 d of.] roiaW bXaKrst. Sophocles. Electro,. 299. 

4 The third Caesar.] The eagle in the hand of Tiberius, the 
Lhird of the Csesars, outdid all its achievements, both past 
tnd future, by becoming the instrument of that mighty and 



yo-107. PARADISE, Canto VI. 431 

The living Justice, in whose breath I rr ive, 
Committed glory, e'en into his hands, 
To execute the vengeance of its wrath. 

" Hear now, and wonder at, what next I tell. 
After with Titus it was sent to wreak 
Vengeance for vengeance 1 of the ancient sin. 
And, when the Lombard tooth, with fang impure, 
Did gore the bosom of the holy church, 
Under its wings, victorious, Charlemain 2 
Sped to her rescue. Judge then for thyself 
Of those, whom I erewhile accused to thee, 
What they are, and how grievous their offending, 
Who are the cause of all your ills. The one 3 
Against the universal ensign rears 
The yellow lilies ; 4 and with partial aim, 
That, to himself, the other 5 arrogates : 
So that 'tis hard to see who most offends. 
Be yours, ye Ghibellines, 6 to veil your hearts 

mysterious act of satisfaction made to the divine justice in the 
crucifixion of our Lord. This is Lombardi's explanation ; and 
he deserves much credit for being right, where all the other 
commentators, as far as I know, are wrong. See note to 
Purg., Canto xxxii. 50. 

1 Vengeance for vengeance.] This will be afterwards ex- 
plained by the Poet himself. See next Canto, v. 47, and note. 

2 Charlemain.] Dante could not be ignorant that the reign 
of Justinian was long prior to that of Charlemain; but the 
spirit of the former emperor is represented, both in this in- 
stance and in what follows, as conscious of the events thr.t 
had taken place after his own time. 

s The one.] The Guelph party. 

4 The yellow lilies.] The French ensign 

5 The other.] The Ghibelline party. 

6 Ye Ghibellines.] " Authors differ much as to the bed Pi- 
ning of these factions, and the origin of the names by which 
they were distinguished. Some say that they began in Italy 
as early as the time of the Emperor Frederick I. in his well 
known* disputes with Pope Alexander III. about the yea; 
1160. Others make them more ancient, dating them from 
the reign of the Emperor Henry IV. who died in 1125. Bui 
the most common opinion is, that they arose in the contests 
between the Emperor Frederick II. and Pope Gregory IX., and 
that this Emperor, wishing to ascertain who were his own 
adherents, and who those of the Pope, caused the former tc 
be marked by the appellation of Ghibellines, and the latter by 
that of Guelphs. It is more probable, however, that the fac- 
tions were at this time either renewed, or diffused more wide- 
ly, and that their origin was of an earlier date, since it is 
certain that G. Villani, b. v. c. 37, Ricordano Malaspina, c. civ., 
and Pietro Buoninsegni. b. i. of their histories of Florence, 
are agreed, that even from 1215, that is, long before Frederick 
had succeeded to the Empire, and Gregory to the Pontificate, 
by the death of Buondel'moneBuondelmonti, one of the chief 



432 THE VISION. M3-12* 

Beneath another standard : ill is this 

Follow'd of him, who severs it and justice : 

And let not with his Gnelphs the new-crown'd 

Assail it ; but those talons hold in dread, [Charles 1 

Which from a lion of more lofty port 

Have rent the casing. Many a time ere now 

The sons have for the sire's transgression wail'd ■ 

Nor let him trust the fond belief, that heaven 

Will truck its armor for his lilied shield. 

" This little star is furnish'd with good spirits, 
Whose mortal lives were busied to that end, 
That honor and renown might wait on them : 
And, whet desires 2 thus err in their intention, 
True love must needs ascend with slacker beam. 
But it is part of our delight, to measure 

gentlemen, in Florence, (see Par., Canto xvi. v. 139,) the fac- 
tions of the Guelfi and Ghibellini were introduced into that 
city." A. G. Artegiani, Annotations on the Q.uadriregio, 
p. 180. "The same variety of opinion prevails with regard 
to the origin of the names. Some deduce them from two 
brothers, who were Germans, the one called Guelph and the 
other Gibel, who being the partisans of two powerful families 
in Pistoia, the Panciatichi, and the Cancellieri, then at enmity 
with each other, were the first occasion of these titles hav- 
ing been given to the discordant factions. Others, with more 
probability, derive them from Guelph or Guelfene, Duke of 
Bavaria, and Gibello, a castle where his antagonist, the Em- 
peror Conrad the Third, was born ; in consequence of a battle 
between .Guelph and Henry the son of Conrad, which was 
'ought (according to Mini, in his Defence of Florence, p. 48' 
A. D. 1138. Others assign to them an origin yet more an- 
cient ; asserting, that at the election of Frederick I. to the 
Empire, the Electors concurred in choosing him, in order to 
extinguish the inveterate discords between the Guelphs and 
Ghibellines, that prince being descended by the paternal line 
from the Ghibellines, and by the maternal from the Guelphs. 
Bartolo, however, in his tractate de Guelphis et Gibellinis, 
gives an intrinsic meaning to these names from certain pas- 
sages in Scripture. ' Sicut Gibellus interpretatur locus forti- 
tudinis, ita Gibellini appellantur confidentes in fortitudine 
militum et armorum, et sicut Guelpha interpretatur os loquens, 
ita Guelphi interpretantur confidentes in orationibus et in 
divinis.' What value is to be put on this interpretation, 
which well accords with the genius of those times when it 
was perhaps esteemed a marvellous mystery, we leave it to 
others to decide.'" Ibid. 

1 Charles.] The Commentators explain this to mean 
Charles II. king of Naples and Sicily. Is it not more likely 
to allude to Charles of Valois, son of Philip III. of France, 
who was sent for, about this time, into Italy by Pope Boni- 
face, with the promise of being made emperor? See G.Vil- 
lani, lib. viii. cap. 42. 

2 When desires.] When honor and fame are the chief mo- 
tives to action, that love, which has heaven for its object, 
must necessarily become less fervent 



i%> 136. PARADISE, Canto VI. 433 

Our wages with the merit ; and admire 
The close proportion. Hence doth heavenly justice 
Temper so evenly affection in ns, 
It ne'er can warp to any wrongfulness. 
Of diverse voices is sweet music made : 
So in our life the different degrees 
Render sweet harmony among these wheels. 
" Within the pearl, that now encloseth us, 
Shines Romeo's light, 1 whose goodly deed and fair 
Met ill acceptance. But the Provencals, 
That were his foes, have little cause for mirth. 
Ill shapes that man his course, who makes his wrong 
Of other's worth. Four daughters 2 were there horn 
Tc Raymond Berenger ; 3 and even* one 



1 Romeo's light.} The story of Romeo is involved in some 
uncertainty. The name of Romeo signified, as we have seen 
in the note* Pur?.. Canto xxxiii. v. 78, one who went on a pil 
grimage to Rome. The French writers assert the continu- 
ance of his ministerial office even after the decease of his 
sovereign, Raymond Berenger, Count of Provence : and they 
rest this assertion chiefly on the fact of a certain Romieu de 
v illeneuve, who was the contemporary of that prince, hav- 
ing left large possessions behind him. as appears by his will 
preserved in the archives of the bishopric of Venice. That 
they are right as to the name at least, would appear from 
the following marginal note on the Monte Cassino MS. Ro- 
meo de Villanova districtus civitatis Ventiee de Provincia 
o!im administratoris Raymundi Belingerj Comitis de Provin- 
cia — ivit peregrinando contemplatione ad Deum. Yet it is 
improbable, on the other hand, that the Italians, who lived 
so near the time, should be misinformed in an occurrence of 
such notoriety. According to them, after he had long been 
a faithful steward to Raymond, when an account was re- 
quired from him of the revenues which he had carefully hus 
banded, and his master as lavishly disbursed " he demanded 
the little mule, the staff, and the scrip, with which he had 
first entered into the count's service, a stranger pilgrim from 
the shrine of St. James, in Galicia, and parted as he came ; 
nor was it ever known whence he was, or whither he went 
G. Villani, lib. vi. c. 92. The same incidents are told of him 
at the conclusion of cap. xxviii. lib. ii. of Fazio degli Uberti's 
Dittamondo. 

2 Four daughters.] Of the four daughters of Raymond 
Berenger, Margaret, the eldest, was married to Louis IX. of 
France ; Eleanor, the next, to Henry III. of England ; San- 
cha, the third, to Richard, Henry's brother, and King of the 
Romans ; and the youngest. Beatrix, to Charles L, King of 
Naples and Sicily, and brother to Louis. 

8 Raymond Berenger.] This prince, the last of the house 
of Barcelona, who was Count of Provence, died in ]245. He 
is in the list of Provencal poets. See Millot, Hist. Litt des 
Troubadours, torn. ii. p. 212. But M. Raynouard could find 
no manuscript of his works. See Choi'x des Poesies de? 
Troubadours, torn. v. p. vii. 
87 



434 THE VISION. UVH* 

Became a queen: and this for him did Romeo, 
Though of mean state and from a foreign land. 
Yet envious tongues incited him to ask 
A reckoning of that just one, who retur a'd 
Twelve fold to him for ten. Aged and poor 
He pax ted thence : and if the world did know 
The heart he had. begging his life by morsels, 
'Twouj d deem the praise it yields him, scantly dealt* 



CANTO VII. 



ARGUMENT. 

In consequence of what had been said by Justin .an, who to- 
gether with the other spirits have now disappeared, some 
doubts arise in the mind of Dante respecting the human 
redempfton. These difficulties are folly explained by Bea- 
trice. 

" Hosanna 1 Sanctus Deus Sabaoth 
Superillustrans claritate tua 
Felices ignes horum malahoth." 
Thus chanting saw I turn that substance bright, 2 
With fourfold lustre to its orb again, 
Revolving ; and the rest, unto their dance, 
With it. moved also ; and, like swiftest sparks, 
In sudden distance from my sight were veil'd. [me, 

Me doubt possess'd ; and '' ; Speak," it whisper' d 
" Speak, speak unto thy lady ; that she quench 
Thy thirst with drops of sweetness."' Yet blank awe, 
Which lords it o'er me. even at the sound 
Of Beatrice's name, did bow me down 
As one in slumber held. Not long that mood 
Beatrice suffer'd : she, with such a smile, 
As might have made one blest amid the flames, 3 
Beaming upon me, thus her words began : 
" Thou in thy thought art pondering (as I deem, 
And what I deem is truth) how just revenge 
Could be with justice punish' d : from which doubt 
I soon will free thee ; so thou mark my words : 
For they of weighty matter shall possess thee. 

i Hosanna.} "Hosanna holy God of Sabaoth, abundantly 
illumining with thy brightness the blessed fires of these 
kingdoms." 

2 That substance bright.] Justinian. 

3 As might have made one blest amid the flames.] So GitisUl 
de' Conti. Bella Mano. " Quai salamandra." 

Che puommi nelie fiamrae far beato 







\ \ 


\ \ 








23-59. PARADISE, Canto VII. 435 

Through suffering not a euro upon the power 

That will'd in him, to his own profiting, 

That man, who was unborn, 1 condemn'd himself; 

And, in himself, all, who since him have lived, 

His offspring: whence, below, the human kind 

Lay sick in grievous error many an age ; 

Until it pleased the Word of God to come 

Among them down, to his own person joining 

The nature from its Maker far estranged j 

By the mere act of his eternal love. 

Contemplate here the wonder I unfold. 

The nature with its Maker thus conjoin'd, 

Created first was blameless, pure, and good ; 

But, through itself alone, was driven forth 

From Paradise, because it had eschew'd 

The way of truth and life, to evil turn'd. 

Ne'er then was penalty so just as that 

inflicted by the cross, if thou regard 

r l ho nature in assumption doom'd ; ne'er wrong 

So great, in reference to him, who took 

Such nature on him, and endured the doom. 

So different effects 2 flow'd from one act : 

For by one death God and the Jews were pleased ; 

And heaven was open'd, though the earth did quakes 

Count it not hard henceforth, when thou dost hear 

That a just vengeance 3 was, by righteous court, 

Justly revenged. But yet I see thy mind, 

By thought on thought arising, sore perplex'd ; 

And, with how vehement desire, it asks 

Solution of thp maze. What I have heard 

Is plain, thou sayst : but wherefore God this way 

For our redemption chose, eludes my search. 

" Brother ! no eye of man not perfected, 
NoJ fully ripen'd in the flame of love, 
May fathom this decree. It is a mark, 
In sooth, much aim'd at, and but little kenn'd : 
And I will therefore show thee why such way 

i That man, who was unborn.] Adam. 

2 Different effects.'] The death of Christ was pleasing to 
God, inasmuch as it satisfied the divine justice ; and to the 
Jews, because it gratified their malignity : and while heaven 
opened for joy at the ransom of man, the earth trembled 
through compassion for its Maker. 

3 A just vengeance.] The pur.ishment of Christ by th8 
Jews, although just as far as regarded the human nature as- 
sumed by him, and so a righteous vengeance of sin, yet being 
unjust as it regarded the divine nature, was itself justly i*c 
venged on the Jews by the destruction of Jerusalem. 



436 THE VISION. 60-93 

Was worthiest. The celestial love. 1 that spurns 

All envying in its bounty, in itself 

With such effulgence blazeth, as sends forth 

All beauteous things eternal. What distils 4 

Immediate thence, no end of being knows ; 

Bearing its seal immutably impress'd. 

Whatever thence immediate fails, is free, 

Free wholly, uncontrollable by power 

Of each tiling new : by such conformity 

More grateful to its author., whose bright beams, 

Though all partake their shining., yet in those 

Are liveliest, which resemble him the m^st. 

These tokens of pre-eminence 3 on man 

Largely bestow'd. if any of them fail, 

He needs must forfeit his nobility, 

No longer stainless. Sin alone is that, 

Which doth disfranchise him, and make unlike 

To the chief good ; for that its light in him 

Is darkeird. And to dignity thus lost 

Is no return ; unless, where guilt makes void, 

He for ill pleasure pay with equal pain. 

Your nature, which entirely in its seed 

Transgress'd, from these distinctions fell, no less 

Than from its state in Paradise : nor means 

Found of recovery /search all methods out 

As strictly as thou may) save one of these, 

The only fords were left through which to wade ■ 

Either, that God had of his courtesy 

Jteleased him merely : or else, man himself 

For his own folly by himself atoned. 

" Fix now thine eye, intently as thou canst, 
On the everlasting counsel ; and explore. 
Instructed by my words, the dread abyss. 

i; Man in himself had ever lack'd :lie means 

1 TJie celestial love.] From Bcetius de Consol. Philos.. lib 
Hi. Metr. 9. 

Quern non externse pepulerunt fmgere causae 
Materia fluitantis opus, verum insita sunimi 
Forma boni livore carens ; tu euncta superno 
Ducis ab exempio, pulchrum pulcherrimus ipse 
Ivhindam meute gerens. similique in imagine forma mr. 
Perfectasque jubens perfectum absoivere partes. 

2 Tfli at distils.] " That which proceeds immediate". 

God, and without the intervention of secondary causes, is 
immortal." 

3 TJiese tokens of pre-eminence.] The before-mentioner} 
gifts of immediate creation by God, independence on second- 
ary causes, and consequent similitude and agreeableness t*j 
the divine Being, all at first conferred on man. 



34-128. PARADISE, Canto VIL 43: 

Of satisfa 2tion, for he could not stoop 

Obeying, in humility so low, 

As high, he, disobeying, thought to soar : 

And, for this reason, he had vainly tried, 

Out of his own sufficiency, to pay 

The rigid satisfaction. Then behooved 

That God should by his own ways lead him bao.k 

Unto the life, Trom whence he fell, restored: 

By both hid ways, I mean, or one alone. 1 

But since the deed is ever prized the more, 

The more the doer's good intent appears ; 

Goodness celestial, whose broad signature 

Is on the universe, of all its ways 

To raise ye up, was fain to leave out none. 

Nor aught so vast or so magnificent, 

Either for him who gave or who received, 

Between the last night and the primal day, 

Was or can be. For God more bounty show'd, 

Giving himself to make man capable 

Of his return to life, than had the terms 

Been mere and unconditional release. 

And for his justice, every method else 

Were all too scant, had not the Son of God 

Humbled himself to put on mortal flesh. 

" Now, to content thee fully, I revert ; 
And further in some part 2 unfold my speech, 
That thou mayst see it clearly as myself. 

" I see, thou sayst, the air, the fire I see, 
The earth and water, and all things of them 
Compounded, to corruption turn, and soon 
Dissolve. Yet these were also things create. 
Because, if what were told me, had been true, 
They from corruption had been therefore free. 

" The angels, O my brother ! and tiiis clime 
Wherein thou art, impassible and pure, 

1 By both his ways, I mean, or one alune.] Either by mercy 
and justice united, or by mercy alone. 

2 In some part.} She reverts to that part of her discourse 
where she had said that what proceeds immediately from 
God "no end of being knows.'" She then proceeds to tell 
him that the elements, which, though he knew them to be 
created, he yet saw dissolved, received their form not im- 
mediately from God, but from a virtue or power created by 
God ; that the soul of brutes and plants is in like manner 
drawn forth by the stars with a combination of those ele- 
ments meetly tempered, " di complession potenziata ;" but 
that the angels and the heavens may be said to be created is 
that very manner in which they exist, without any interven 
tion of agency. 



43S THE VISION. 129- m 

I call created, even as they are 

In their whole beiag. But the elements. 

Which thou hast named, and what of them is taad;\ 

Are by created virtue hifornvd : create, 

Their substance ; and create, the informing virtue 

In these bright stars, that round them circling move. 

The soul of every brute and of each plant, 

The ray and motion of the sacred lights. 

Draw 1 from complexion with meet power endued 

But this our life the eternal good inspires 

Immediate, and enamors of itself ; 

So that our wishes rest for ever here. 

" And hence thou mayst by inference conclude 
Our resurrection certain, 2 if thy mind 
Consider how the human flesh was framed, 
When both our parents at the first were made'* 

CANTO VIII 

ARGUMENT. 

The Poet ascends with Beatrice to the third heaven, which 
is the planet Venus ; and here finds the soul of Charles 
Martel, King of Hungary, who had been Dante's friend on 
..--. and who now, after speaking of the realms to which 
he was heir, unfolds the cause why children differ in dis 
position from their parents. 

1 Vrait.] I had before rendered this differently, suod I now 
think erroneously : 

With complex patency attract and turn. 

2 Our resurre-ction certain.'] Venruri appears to mistake 
the Poet's reasoning, when he observes : u Wretched for us. 
if we had not arguments more convincing, and of a higher 
kind, to assure us of the truth of our resurrection." It is, 
perhaps, here intended that the whole of God's dispensation 
should be taken into the account. The conclusion may be 
that as before sin man was immortal, and even in flesh pro 
ceeded immediately from God, so being restored to the favof 
of heaven by the expiation made for sin, he necessarily re- 
covers his claim to immortality even in the body. 

There is mueh in this poem'ta justify the encomium which 
the learned Salvini has passed on it, when, in an epistle ta 
Redi, imitating what Horace had said of Homer, that the du- 
ties of life might be better learned from the Grecian bard, 
than from the teachers of the porch or the academy, hf 
And dost thou ask, what themes my mind engage ? 
The lonely hours I give to Bante's page ; 
And meet more sacred learning in his lines, 
Than I had gain'd from aJ the sehool divines. 
Se volete saper la vita mi a, 
Studiando io sto lungi da tutti gli uomini ; 
Ea ho imparato piu teoiogia 
In questi giomi, che ho riletto Dante^ 
Che nelle scuole fatlo io noa avria. 



1-24. PARADISE, Can-to VIII. 439 

The world 1 was, in its day of peril dark 
Wont to believe the dotage of fond love, 
From the fair Cyprian deity, who rolls . 
In her third epicycle, 2 shed on men 
By stream of potent radiance : therefore they 
Of elder time, in their old error blind, 
Not her alone with sacrifice adored 
And invocation, but like honors paid 
To Cupid and Dione, deem' d of them 
Her mother, and her son, him whom they feigoV 
To sit in Dido's bosom : 3 and from her, 
Whom I have sung preluding, borrow'd they 
The appellation of that star, which views 
Now obvious, 4 and now averse, the sun. 

I was not ware that I was wafted up 
Into its orb ; but the new loveliness, 
That graced my lady, gave me ample proof 
That we had enter'd there. And as in name 
A sparkle is distinct, or voice in voice 
Discern'd, when one its even tenor keeps, 
The other comes and goes ; so in that light 
I other luminaries saw, that coursed 
In circling motion, rapid more or less, 
As their 5 eternal vision each impels. 

1 The icorld.] The Poet, on his arrival at the third heaven, 
tells us that the world, in its days of heathen darkness, be- 
lieved the influence of sensual love to proceed from the star, 
to which, under the name of Venus, they paid divine honors : 
as they worshipped the supposed mother and son of Venus, 
under the names of Dione and Cupid. 

2 Epicycle.] 

the sphere 

With centric and eccentric scribbled o'er, 
Cycle and epicycle. Milton, P. L., b. viii. 84. 

v In sul dosso di questo cerchio," &c. Convito di Dante^ 
p 4 i. u Upon the back of this circle, in the heaven of Ve- 
mn, whereof we are now treating, is a little sphere, which 
has in that heaven a revolution of its own ; whose circle the 
astronomers term epicycle." 

3 To sit in Dido's bosom.] Virgil, ^3n., lib. i. 718. 

4 JSTow obvious.] Being at one part of the year, a morning, 
Bnd at another an evening star. So Frezzi : — 

II raggio della Stella 

Che'l sol vagheggia or drieto or davanti. 

// Quadrir., lib. i. cap. i. 

whose ray, 

Being page and usher to the day, 

Does mourn behind the sun, before him play. 

John Hall. 
* As their.] A.s each, according to their several desert^ 
partakes more or less of the beatific vision. 



440 THE VISION. 25- tt 

Never was blast from vapor charged with cold, 
Whether invisible to eye or no. 1 
Descended with such speed, it had not seein'd 
To linger in dull tardiness, compared 

To those celestial lights, that towards us came. 

Leaving the circuit of their joyous ling. 

Conducted by the lofty seraphim. 

And after them, who in the ran appear'd, 

Such an Hosanna sounded as hath left 

Desire, ne'er since extinct in me. to hear 

Renew'd the strain. Then, parting from the rest 

One near us drew.. End sole began: " We ail 

Are ready at thy pleasure, well disposed 

To do thee gentle sendee. We are they. 

To whom thou in the world erewlule diost sing ; 

• O ye ! whose intellectual ministry 1 

Moves the third heaven:" and in one orb we red, 

One motion, one impulse, with those who rule 

Princedoms in heaven : s yet are of love so full, 

That to please thee 'twill be as sweet to rest." 

Alter mine eyes had with meek reverence 
Sought the celestial guide, and were by her 
Assured, they turn'd again unto the light. 
Who had so largely promised : and with voice 
That bare the lively pressure of my zeal. 
" Tell who ye are,' 3 I cried. Forthwith it grew 
In size and splendor, through augmented joy : 
And thus it answer'd : " A short date., below, 
The world possess'd me. Had the time been more. 
Much evil, that will come, had never chanced. * 
My gladness hides thee from me. which doth shine 

1 TV' : no.] He calls the blast invisi 
ble, if unattended by gross vapor; otherwise, visible. 

2 O ye! whose intellectual minis: ; .] 

Voi ch* intendendo il terzo ciel movete. 
The nrst line in our Poet's first Canzone. See his Convito, 
p. 40. 

3 Princedoms in heaven.] See Canto xxviii. 112, where the 
princedoms are. as here, made co-ordinate with this third 
sphere. In bis Convito, p. 54. he has ranked them differently, 
making the thrones the moving intelligences of Venus. 

4 Had the time I I I now speaking is 

bs Bflartel, crowned King of Ehiog :n of Charles 

II., King of Naples and Sicily, to which dominions, dying in 
his father's lifetime, he did' not succeed. The evil, thai 
would have been prevented by the longer life off Charles 
Muriel, was that resistance which his brother Robert. King 
9i Sicily, wh) succeeded him. made to the Emperor Henry 
VII. See G. Villani, lib. ix. cap. xxxviii. 



^6-77. PARADISE, Canto VIII. 441 

Around, and shroud me, as an animal 
In its own silk enswath'd. Thou lovedst me well, 1 
And hadst gooa cause ; for had my sojourning 
Been longer on the earth, the love I bare thee 
Had put forth more than blossoms. The left bank, 
That Rhone, when he hath mix'd with Sorga, lavea^ 
In me its lord expected, and that horn 
Of fair Ausonia, 3 with its boroughs old, 
Bari, and Croton, and Gaeta piled, 
From where the Trento disembogues his waves. 
With Verde mingled, to the salt-sea flood. 
Already on my temples beam'd the crown, 
Which gave me sovereignty over the land 4 
By Danube wash'd, whenas he strays beyond 
The limits of his German shores. The realm, 
Where, on the gulf by stormy Eurus lash'd, 
Betwixt Pelorus and Pachynian heights, 
The beautiful Trinacria 5 lies in gloom, 
(Not through Typhosus, 6 but the vapory cloud 
Bituminous upsteam'd) that too did look 
To have its sceptre wielded by a race 
Of monarchs, sprung through me from Charles and 
Rodolph ; 7 



1 Thou lovedst me well.] Charles Martel might have been 
known to our Poet at Florence, whither he came to meet his 
father in 1295, the year of his death. The retinue and the 
habiliments of the young monarch are minutely described 
by G. Villanl, who adds, that " he remained more than twenty 
days in Florence, waiting for his father King Charles and his 
brothers : during which time great honor was done him by 
the Florentines, and he showed no less love towards them, 
and he was much in favor with all." Lib. viii. cap. xiii. 
His brother Robert, king of Naples, was the friend of Pe- 
trarch. 

» The left bank.] Provence. 

* That horn 

Of fair Ausonia.] The kingdom of Naples 

« The land.] Hungary. 

6 Thi beautiful Trinacria.] Sicily; so called from its three 
promontories, of which Pachynus and Pelorus, here men 
tioned, are two. 

6 Typhceus.] The giant, whom Jupiter is fabled to have 
overwhelmed under the mountain iEtna, from whence he 
vomited forth smoke and flame. 

7 Sprung through me from Charles and Rodolph.] "Sicily 
would be still ruled by a race of monarchs, descended through 
me from Charles I. and Rodolph I., the former my grand- 
father, king of Naples and Sicily ; the latter, emperor of Ger- 
many, my father-in-law ;" both celebrated in the Purgatorv 
Canto vii. 



442 THE VISION 78-1(3 

Had not ill -lording, 1 which doth desperate make* 

The people ever, in Palermo raised 

The shout of •' death,'" re-echoed loud and long, 

Had but my brother's foresight 3 kenn'd as much, 

He had been warier, that the greedy want 

Of Catalonia might not work his bale. 

And truly need there is that he forecast, 

Or other for hirn, lest more freight be laid 

On his already over-laden bark. 

Nature in him, from bounty fallen to thrift, 

Would ask the guard of braver amis, than such 

As only care to have their coffers fill'd." 

" My liege ! it doth enhance the joy thy words 
Infuse into me. mighty as it is, 
To think my gladness manifest to thee, 
As to myself, who own it, when thou look'st 
Into the source and limit of all good, [speak, 

There, where thou markest that which thou dost 
Thence prized of me the more. Glad thou hast 

made me : 
Xow make intelligent, clearing the doubt 
Thy speech hath raised in me ; for much I muse, 
How bitter can spring up, 4 when sweet is sown.''" 

I thus inquiring ; he forthwith replied : 
(! If I have power to show one truth, soon that 
Shall face thee, which thy questioning declares 

i Had not ill-lording. J " If the ill conduct of our governors 
in Sicily had not excited the resentment and hatred of the 
people. 'and stimulated them to that dreadful massacre at the 
Sicilian vespers;" in consequence of which the kingdom fell 
into the hands of Peter III. of Aragon, in 1282. 
Miracol parve ad ogni persona 
Che ad una voce tuna la Cicilia 
Si rubello dair una ail' altra nona, 
Gridando. mora mora la famiglia 
Di Carlo, mora mora gli franceschi, 
E cosi ne taglio ben otto miglia. 
quanta i forestier che giungon freschi 
Nell' altrui terre. denno esser cortesi, 
Fuggir lussuria e non esser maneschi. 

Fazio degli Uberti, Dittamondo, lib. ii. cap. 39 

* Desperate make.'] u Accuora." Monti in his Proposta 
construes this " afflicts." Vellutello's interpretation of it, 
which is u makes desperate." appears to be nearer the mark. 

3 My brother s foresight.] He seems to tax his brother Ro- 
bert with employing necessitous and greedy Catalonians to 
administer the affairs of his kingdom. 

4 Hoic bitter can spring up.] "How a covetous son can 
spring from a liberal father." Yet that father has himselt 
been accused of avarice in the Purgatory. Canto xx. 78 . 
though his general character was that of a bounteous princa 



i03-13fi. PARADISE, Canto ^ [II. 443 

Behind thee now conceal'd. The Good, 1 that guides 

And blessed makes this realm which thou dost mount, 

Ordains its providence to be the virtue 

In these great bodies : nor the natures only 

The all-perfect mind provides for, but with them 

That which preserves them too ; for naught, that lies 

Within the range of that unerring bow, 

But is as level with the destined aim, 

As ever mark to arrow's point opposed. 

Were it not thus, these heavens, thou dost visit, 

Would their effect so work, it would not be 

Art, but destruction ; and this may not chance, 

If th' intellectual powers, that move these stars, 

Fail not, and who, first faulty made them, fail. 

Wilt thou this truth more clearly evidenced ?" 

To whom I thus : " It is enough : no fear, 
I see, lest nature in her part should tire." 

He straight rejoiivd : " Say, were it worse for man, 
If he lived not in fellowship on earth?" 

" Yea," answer'd I ; " nor here a reason needs " 

" And may that be, if different estates 
Grow not of different duties in your life ? 
Consult your teacher, 2 and he tells you ' no.' " 

Thus did he come, deducing to this point, 

1 The Good.] The Supreme Being uses these spheres as 
the intelligent instruments of his providence in the conduct 
of terrestrial natures ; so that these natures cannot but be 
conducted aright, unless these heavenly bodies should them- 
selves fail from not having been made perfect at first, or the 
Creator of them should fail. To this Dante replies, that na- 
ture, he is satisfied, thus directed, must do her part. Charles 
Martel then reminds him, that he had learned from Aristotle, 
that human society requires a variety of conditions, and con- 
sequently a variety of qualifications in its members. Ac- 
cordingly, men, he concludes, are born with different powers 
and capacities, caused by the influence of the heavenly bodies 
&t the time of their nativity; on which influence, and not on 
their parents, those powers and capacities depend. Having 
thus resolved the question proposed, Charles Martel adds, bv 
way of corollary, that the want of observing their natural 
ient in the destination of men to their several offices in life, 
rs the occasion of much of the disorder that prevails in the 
world. 

2 Consult your teacher.] Aristotle, iirel f£ avo[xolu)v fj ndXig, 
k.t. A. De Rep., lib. iii. cap. 4. " Since a state is made up 
of members differing from one another; (for even as an ani- 
mal, in the first instance, consists of soul and body; and the 
soul, of reason and desire ; and a family, of man and woman • 
and property, of master and slave ; in like manner a state 
consists both of all these, and besides these of other dissimi- 
lar kinds ;) it necessarily follows, that the excellence of all 
the members of the state cannot be one and the same." 



444 THE VISION. 127-1*4 

And then concluded : " For this cause behooves. 

The roots, from whence your operations come. 

Must differ. Therefore one is Solon born ; 

Another, Xerxes ; and Melchisedec 

A third ; and he a fourth, whose airy voyage 

Cost him his son. 1 In her circuitous course, 

Nature, that is the seal to mortal wax, 

Doth well her art, but no distinction owns 

'Twixt one or other household. Hence befalls 

That Esau is so wide of Jacob : 2 hence 

Quirinus 3 of so base a father springs, 

He dates from Mars his lineage. Were it not 

That Providence celestial overruled, 

Nature, in generation, must the path 

Traced by the generator still pursue 

Unswervingly. Thus place I in thy sight 

That, which was late behind thee. But, in sign 

Of more affection for thee, 'tis my will 

Thou wear this corollary. Nature ever, 

Finding discordant fortune, like all seed 

Out of its proper climate, thrives but ill. 

And were the world below content to mark 

And work on the foundation nature lays, 

It would not lack supply of excellence. 

But ye perversely to religion strain 

Him, who was born to gird on him the sword, 

And of the fluent phraseman make your king : 

Therefore 4 your steps have wander d from the path." 



Whose airy voyage 



Cost him his son.] Daedalus. 

2 Esau is so wide of Jacob.] Genesis, xxv. 22. Yen tun 
blames our Poet for selecting an instance, which, as that 
commentator says, proves the direct contrary of that which 
he intended, as they were born under the same ascendant ; 
and, therefore, if the stars had any influence, the two broth- 
ers should have been born with the same temperament and 
disposition. This objection is well answered by Lombardi, 
who quotes a passage from Roger Bacon, to show that the 
smallest diversity of place was held to make a diversity in 
the influence of the heavenly bodies, so as to occasion an en- 
tire discrepancy even between children in the same womb. 
It must be recollected, that whatever power may be attribu- 
ted to the stars by our Poet, he does not suppose it to put any 
constraint on the freedom of the human will ; so that, chi- 
merical as his opinion appears to us, it was, in a moral point 
of view at least, harmless. 

3 Quirinus.] Romulus, born of so obscure a father, that 
his parentage was attributed to Mars. 

4 Therefore.] " The wisdom of God hath divided the genius 
»f men according to the different affairs of the world ; and 



M>1. PARADISE, Caxto IX. 445 



CANTO IX. 

ARGUMENT. 
The next spirit, who converses with our Poet in the planet 
Venus, is the amorous Cunizza. To her succeeds Folco, ol 
Folques, the Provencal bard, who declares that the soul of 
Rahab the harlot is there also ; and then, blaming the Pope 
for his neglect of the holy land, prognosticates some reverso 
to the papal power. 

After solution of my doubt, thy Charles, 
O fair Clemenza, 1 of the treachery' 2 spake, 
That must befall his seed : but, '•' Tell it net," 
Said he, " and let the destined years come round/ 5 
Nor may I tell thee more, save that the meed 
Of sorrow well-deserved shall quit your wrongs. 

And now the visage of that saintly light 3 
Was to the sun, that fills it, turn'd again, 
As to the good, whose plentitude of bliss 
Sufficeth all. O ye misguided souls ! 
Infatuate, who from such a good estrange 
Your hearts, and bend your £aze on vanity, 
Alas for you ! — And lo ! toward me, next, 
Another of those splendent forms approach'd, 
That, by its outward brightening, testified 
The will it had to pleasure me. The eyes 
Of Beatrice, resting, as before, 
Firmly upon me, manifested forth 
Approval of my wish. "And O," I cried, 
" Blest spirit ! quickly be my will perform'd ; 
And prove thou to me, 4 that my inmost thoughts 



varied their inclinations according to the variety of actions 
to be performed therein. Which they who consider not, 
rudely rushing upon professions and ways of life unequal to 
their natures, dishonor not only themselves and then func- 
tions, but pervert the harmony of the whole world." Brown 
on Vulgar Errors, b. i. ch. 5. 

1 fair Clemenza.] Daughter of Charles Martel, and sec- 
ond wife of Louis X. of France. 

2 The treachery.] He alludes to the occupation of the king- 
dom of Sicily by Robert, in exclusion of his brother's son 
Carobert, or Charles Robert, the rightful heir. See G. Villain, 
lib. viii. c. 112. 

3 That saintly light.] Charles Martel. 

4 Prove thou to me.] The thoughts of all created minds 
being seen by the Deity, and all that is in the Deity being 
the object of vision to beatified spirits, such spirits must 
consequently see the thoughts of all created minds. Dante 
therefore requests of the spirit, who now approaches him, 
a proof of this truth with regard to his own thoughts. See 

.70. 

38 



n-:i v:<;: ;: 

I can refle:: - . . 

. . . ■ " . . ; ... 
A- :_i "... : ; ; :. in::i:-~si In : ..:• i-uv 

Between Rialto and the foimtam-gjriiQgs 

~ : Z :f„-. : i~ i ::' I.iti :...-: t : : :„ : :: . 

I • " : " ; "" t : ._'....:.. : :.. : 7 - 

j ;:_„ —„.7i. :i 7:7 — .. .r .; -.:: . ;::.; :. : L~i: . ..: 
7__i. sorfLy ;_.7^: -.. .7 ::^ :_ 7;; ■-_-_ ::. T ::•:. 
. 7 ::: . _ „ :: . 
_; z - * 



And he 




Has si 




Noi -: 

""I-.::" - 


-"" ; 


L-:::. 




A~i il: 





-7l. 



; :7 ; . _ ..." 
and th- 

r -.r : .7. 7:::.,.:.: ::.7 ._•::.;.. _:- :: '::.-: :-^_-..:-> — r^i: 

-_i: : . :. ■ :■: _ : ..:.: _.:. ' :_7 .;•;;:. 7: ::' IT.:.;.::- ~~7: _« r.-~ 

f - • : ; 7 .. 
Eel. ;/:.:' r_: v 11 

r - ... - - ^ ....... ; --' y ------. . _ : . _ : - c - f 

_:.-_^:.7 " i~: r:.: ■ .-f :-.-•: iy ;lf :;_;-: :.f:L.:^::.:: 

of Padua, lab. L cap. 3, in Mcrattai, Bar. SL Script., kn 

p. 03L She ped foona fear ifiir^t frnsfcand, Eirfaard of SL 

_ -:;:- 

and vii. v with wbom she is supposed to Isave cmltalwlni fce- 

; ::t - ::__:::; r :._.f :....- 7 :."_.: *.- :7-i.- :■:' T.-r-.r - :. :.•: ■? 

- 77 - 

I 
brother married Ho a nob! email of Rragamao : lastlx, wfeem fee 
also had fallen by the same hand. . . r feer fenrtfeat 

. ... - 

[ aa ant ^Essaaasfed Oatlu 
_ .". 7. . : 7 _ . 1_. .7: : .. :-. 

-■ ~.~ - \ ~ ■ ■ ■ : 

Q-iy ;:ri7: j:.:t— ::' I'^-i-r .„■?* ::'""- :i : L.:-.f i: »-i.: 
">t:_ :. : .-:."" Hi:" 7:'::' ; :•:' 7~ ri: - : : -..:: ~ c ::*:••: ri_.rj: 
Mb, which hartefeea feUtowed by Cres CTmfrriy Q «wfci o^ ami 
Millot, are detected fey the £i!%ence of T&afeascM. Mr. 

t:i "~:. ~ :':.: '-~~^- i.:z':.t ~~:.--i :'r:z: l.lirsr_.le5. li_^; 
.r. ; i i?j7.r.7i 11.7 rf-.ri'T-iif i-!.".. 

Ofte-of 1 
: : 

; " "v • . ' 7.7 : . 



41-55. PARADISE, Canto IX. 447 

If to excel be worthy man's endeavor. 

When such life may attend the first. Yet they 

Care not for this, the crowd'- that now are girt 

By Adice and Tagliamento, still 

Impenitent, though scourged. The hour is near 3 

When for their stubbornness, at Padua's marsh 

The water shall be changed, that laves Vicenza. 

And where Cagnano meets with Sile, one 4 

Lords it, and bears his head aloft, for whom 

The web 5 is now a-warping. Feltro 6 too 

Shall sorrow for its godless shepherd's fault, 

Of so deep stain, that never, for the like, 

Was Malta's 7 bar unclosed. Too large should be 

The skillet 8 that would hold Ferrara's blood, 

And wearied he, who ounce by ounce would weigh it, 



unless the Provencal MSS. should be brought to light, the 
poetical reputation *of Folco must rest on the mention made 
of him by the more fortunate Italians. 

What I scarcely ventured to hope at the time this note 
was written, has 'been accomplished by the great learning 
and diligence of M. Raynouard. See his Choix des Poesies 
des Troubadours and Lexique Roman in which Folques and 
his Provencal brethren are awakened into the second life 
augured to them by our Poet. 

1 When such life may attend the first.] When the mortal 
life of man may be attended by so lasting and glorious a mem 
dry, which is a kind of second life. 

2 The croicd.] The people who inhabited the tract of coun- 
try bounded by the rivers Tagliamento to the east and Adice 
to' the we-t. 

3 The hour is near.] Cunizza foretells the defeat of Giaco- 
po da Carrara and the Paduans, by Can Grande, at Vicenza, 
on the 18th September, 1314. See* G. Villain, lib. ix. cap. 62. 

* One.] She predicts also the fate of Riccardo da Camino, 
who is said to have been murdered at Trevigi, (where the 
rivers Sile and Cagnano meet.) while he was engaged in play- 
ing at chess. 

5 The web.] The net, or snare, into which he is destined 
to fall. 

6 Feltro.] The Bishop of Feltn having received a number 
of fugitives from Ferrara, who were in opposition to the Pope, 
under a promise of protection, afterwards gave them up ; so 
that they were reconducted to that city, and the greater part 
of them'there put to death. 

7 Malta's.] A tower, either in the citadel of Padua, which 
under the tyranny of Ezzolino, had been " with many a foul 
and midnight murder fed ;" or (as some say} near a nver of 
the same name, that falls into the lake of Bolsena. in which 
the Pope was accustomed to imprison s'jch as had been 
guilty of an irremissible sin. 

8 The skillet.] The blood shed could not be contained la 
such a vessel, if it were of the usual size. 



448 THE VISION. 5o-7t 

The which this priest. 1 in show ofpaity-zeal, 
Courteous will give : nor will the gift ill suit 
The country's custom. We descry 2 above 
Mirrors, ye call them thrones, from which to us 
Rerlected shine the judgments of our God: 
Whence these our sayings we avouch for good.''* 

She ended ; and appear'd on other thoughts 
Intent, re-entering on the wheel she late 
Had left. That other joyance 3 meanwhile wax'c 
A thing to marvel at. 4 in splendor glowing. 
Like choicest ruby 5 stricken by the sun. 
For. in that upper clime, effulgence 6 comes 
Of gladness, as here laughter: and below. 
As the mind saddens, murkier grows the shade 

•'•' God seeth all : and in him is thy sight,''" 
Said I. •'•' blest spirit ! Therefore will of his 
Cannot to thee be dark. Why then delays 
Thy voice to satisfy my wish untold : 
That voice, which joins the inexpressive sonof, 
Pastime of heaven, the which those ardors sms". 
That cowl them with six shadowing wings 7 :ut- 
spread ? 

1 This priest.] The bishop, who. to show himself a zeal 
ous partisan of the Pope, had committed the above-mentioned 
act of treachery. The commentators are not agreed as to the 
name of this faithless prelate. Troya calls him Alessandro 
Novello, and relates the circumstances at full. Veltro Alle- 
gorico, p. 139. 

~ We descry.] "We behold the things that we predict, in 
the mirrors or eternal troth." 

3 That other joyance.] Folco. 

4 A thing- to marvel at.] Preclara cosa. A Latinism ac- 
cording to Yenturi ; but the word -'preclara" had been already 
naturalized by Guido Guinicelli: 

Oro ed argento e ricche gioje preclare. 
See the sonnet, of which a version has been given in a i.ote 
to Purg.. Canto xi. v. 96. 

5 Choicest :•:.:; .] Balascio. 

No saphire in Inde no rube rich of grace 

There lacked then, nor emeraude so green. 

Bales. Chaucer. The Court of Lote. 

Mr. Tyrwhitt. I should suppose erroneously as to the sense 

at least intended by Chaucer, calls it " a sort of Dastard 

ruby." 

- Effulgence.] As joy is expressed by hughter on 

sc is if by an increase of splendor in Paradise: and. ou 

the contrary, grief is betokened in Hell by augmented dark 

tess. 
7 Six sh^doicing wrings.] " Aoove it stood the seraphims 

fach one had sis wing>- v " Isaiah, vi. % 



77-91. PARADISE, Canto IX. 449 

I would not wait thy asking, wert thou known 
To ma, as throughly I to thee am known." 

He, forthwith answering, thus his words began : 
" The valley of waters, 1 widest next to that 2 
Which doth the earth engarland, shapes its course, 
Between discordant shores, 3 against the sun 
Inward so far, it makes meridian 4 there, 
Where was before the horizon. Of that vale 
Dwelt I upon the shore, 'twixt Ebro's stream 
And Macra's, 6 that divides with passage brief 
Genoan bounds from Tuscan. East and west 
Are nearly one to Begga 6 and my land 
Whose haven 7 erst was with its own blood warm. 
Who knew my name, were wont to call me Folco \ 
And I did bear impression of this heaven, 8 
That now bears mine : for not with fiercer flame 
Glow'd Belus' daughter, 9 injuring alike 
SichaBiis and Creusa, than did I, 

Ante majestatis ejus gloriam cherubim senas h.;bentes alas 
semper adstantes non cessant clainare sanctus, sanctus, 
sanctus. Alberici Visio, § 39. 

six wings he wore to shade 

His lineaments divine. Milton, P. L.. b. v. £73. 

1 The valley of waters.] The Mediterranean sea 

2 That.] The great ocean. 

3 Discordant shores.] Europe and Africa. 

4 Meridian.] Extending to the east, the Mediterranean at 
last reaches the coast of Palestine, which is on its horizon 
when it enters the Straits of Gibraltar. "Wherever a man 
is," says Vellutello, " there he has, above his head, his own 
particular meridian circle." 

5 'Twixt Ebro's stream 

And Macro's.] Ebro, a river to the west, and Macra, to 
the east of Genoa where Folco was born ; others think that 
Marseilles and not Genoa is here described; and then Ebro 
must be understood of the river in Spain. 

e Begga.] A place in Africa. 

7 Whose haven.] Alluding to the terrible slaughter of the 
Genoese made by the Saracens in 930 ; for which event Vel- 
lutello refers tc the history of Augustino Giustiniani Those 
who conceive that our Poet speaks of Marseilles, suppose the 
slaughter of its inhabitants made in the time of Julius Csesar 
to be alluded to. It must however have been Genoa, as that 
pla:e, and not Marseilles, lies opposite to Buggea or Begga 
on the African coast. Fazio degli Uberti describes Buggea 
as looking towards Majorca. 

Yidi Buggea che ve di granrte loda; 
Questa nel mare Maiorica guata. 

Dittamondo, 1. v cap. 6. 

8 This heaven.] The planet Venus, by which lolco de« 
tlares himself to have been formerly influenced. 

d Belus' 1 daughter.] Dido. 



450 THE VISION. 95-1& 

Long as it suited the unripen'd down 

That fledged my cheek ; nor she of Rhcdopej 1 

That was beguiled of Demophoon ; 

Nor Jove's son, 2 when the charms of Iole 

Were shrined within his heart. And yet there bidets 

No sorrowful repentance here, but mirth, 

Not for the fault, (that doth not come to mind,) 

But for the virtue, whose o'erruling sway 

And providence have wrought thus quaintly. Here 

The skill is look'd into, that fashioneth 

With such effectual working, 3 and the good 

Discern'd, accruing to the lower world 4 

From this above. But fully to content 

Thy wishes, all that in this sphere have birth, 

Demands my further parle. Inquire thou wouldst, 

Who of this light is denizen, that here 

Beside me sparkles, as the sun-beam doth 

On the clear wave. Know then, the soul of Rahab 1 

Is in that gladsome harbor : to our tribe 

United, and the foremost rank assign'd. 

She to this heaven, 6 at which the shadow ends 

Of your sublunar world, was taken up, 

First, in Christ's triumph, of all souls redeem'd: 

For well behooved, that, in some part of heaven, 

She should remain a trophy, to declare 

The mighty conquest won with either palm ; 7 

For that she favor'd first the high exploit 

Of Joshua on the holy land, whereof 

The Pope 5 recks little now. Thy city, plant 

i She of Rhodope.] Phyllis. 

2 Jove's son.\ Hercules. 

3 With such effectual working.'] All the editions, except 
the Xidobeatina. do not, as Lombardi affirms, read " contan- 
to;" lor Vellutelio's of 1544 is certainly one exception. 

4 To the lower world.] I have altered my former transla- 
tion here, in compliance with a reading adopted by Lombardi 
from the Xidobeatina ; Perche '1 mondo, instead of Perche al 
inondo. But the passage is still obscure. 

s Rahab.] Heb. xi. 31. 

e This heaven.] "This planet of Venus, at which the 
shadow of the earth ends, as Ptolemy writes in his Alma- 
gest." Veil ut ell o. 

i With either palm.] By both his hands nailed to the 
cross. 

6 The Pope.] " Who cares not that the holy land is in the 
possession of the Saracens.' See also Canto xv. 136. 
Ite superbi, O miseri Christiani 
Consumando l'un Paltro; e non vi caglia 
Che '1 sepolcro di Cristo e in man di cani. 

Petrarca, Trionfo ddla lama, cap il. 



124-137 PARADISE, Canto X. 45) 

Of him, 1 that on his Maker turn'd the bark, 
And of whose envying so much wo hath spr Aug, 
Engenders and expands the cursed flower, 2 
That hath made wander both the sheep and lambs, 
Turning the shepherd to a wolf. For this, 
The gospel and great teachers laid aside, 
The decretals, 3 as their stufT'd margins show, 
Are the sole study. Pope and Cardinals, 
Intent on these, ne'er journey but in thought 
To Nazareth, where Gabriel oped his wings. 
Yet it may chance, ere long, the Vatican/ 
And other most selected parts of Rome, 
That were the grave of Peter's soldiery, 
Shall be deliver'd from the adulterous bond." 



CANTO X. 

ARGUMENT. 
Their next ascent carries them into the sun, which is the 
fourth heaven. Here they are encompassed with a wreath 

1 Of him.] Of Satan. 

2 The cursed floicer.] The coin of Florence, called the 
floren ; the covetous desire of which has excited the Pope to 
so much evil. 

3 The decretals.] The canon law. So in the De Monar- 
chic lib. iii. p. 137. " There are also a third set, whom they 
call Decretalists. These, alike ignorant of theology and phi- 
losophy, relying wholly on their decretals, (which I indeed 
esteem not unworthy of reverence,) in the hope I suppose of 
obtaining for them a paramount influence, derogate from the 
authority of the empire. Nor is this to be wandered at, 
when I have heard one of them saying, and impudently 
maintaining, that traditions are the foundation of the faith 
of the church." He proceeds to confute this opinion, and 
concludes " that the church does not derive its authority 
from traditions, but traditions from the church:" "necesse 
est, ut non ecclesiae a traditionibus, sed ab ecclesia tradi- 
tionibus accedat authoritas." In accordance with the senti- 
ments of Dante on this point, the Church of England has 
framed that article, so well worthy of being duly considered 
and carried into practice, which begins : " It is not necessary 
that traditions and ceremonies be in all places one, or utterly 
.ike ; for at all times they have been divers, and may be 
changed according to the diversity of countries, times, and 
men's manners, so that nothing be ordained against God's 
word." Article xxxiv. 

* TJie Vatican.] He alludes either to the death of Pope 
Boniface VIII., or, as Venturi supposes, to the coming of the 
Emperor Henry VII. into Italy ; or else, according to the yet 
more probable conjecture of Lombardi, to the transfer of Iho 
holy see from Rome to Avignon, which took place in tha 
pontificate of Element V. 



452 1HE VISION 1-21 

of blessed spirits, twelve in number. Thomas Aquinas 
who is one of these, declares the names and endowment 
of the rest. 

Looking into his first-born with the love, 
Which breathes from both eternal, the first Might 
Ineffable, wherever eye or mind 
Can roam, hath in such order all disposed, 
As none may see and fail to enjoy. Raise, then 
O reader ! to the lofty wheels, with me, 
Thy ken directed to the point, 1 whereat 
One motion strikes on the other. There be£;in 
Thy wonder of the mighty Architect, 
Who loves his work so inwardly, his eye 
Doth ever watch it. See, how thence oblique" 2 
Brancheth the circle, where the planets roll 
To pour their wished influence on the world ; 
Whose path not bending thus, in heaven above v 
Much virtue would be lost, and here on earth 
All power well nigh extinct : or, from direct 
Were its departure distant more or less, 
I' the universal order, great defect 
Must, both in heaven and here beneath, ensue. 

Now rest thee, reader ! on thy bench, and must 
Anticipative of the feast to come ; 
So shall delight make thee not feel thy toil. 
Lo ! I have set before thee ; for thyself 
Feed now : the matter I indite, henceforth 
Demands entire my thought. Joined with the part, 
Which late we told of, the great minister 5 
Of nature, that upon the world imprints 

i The point.] " To that part of heaven," as Venturi ex- 
plains it, " in which the equinoctial circle and the zodiac 
intersect each other, where the common motion of the 
heavens from east to west may be said to strike with great- 
est force against the motion proper to the planets : and this 
re-percussion, as it were, is here the strongest, because the 
velocity of each is increased to the utmost by their respec- 
tive distance from the poles. Such at least is the system of 
Dante." 

2 Oblique.] The zodiac. 

s /7i heaven above.] If the planets did not preserve that 
order in which they move, they would not receive nor trans- 
mit their due influences : and if the zodiac were not thus 
oblique — if towards the north it either passed, or went shorl 
of the tropic of Cancer, or else towards the south it passed, 
or went short of the tropic of Capricorn, it would not divide 
the seasons as it now does. 

4 The part.] The abovementioned intersection of th« 
equinoctial circle and the zodiac. 

6 Minister.] The sun 



88-64. PARADISE, Canto X. 453 

The virtue of the heaven, and doles out 

Time for us with his beam, went circling on 

Along the spires, 1 where 2 each hour sooner comes ; 

And I was with him, weetless of ascent, 

But as a man, 3 that weets him come, ere thinking. 

For Beatrice, she who passeth on 
So suddenly from good to better, time 
Counts not the act, oh then how great must needs 
Have been her brightness ! What there was i' th' sun, 
(Where I had enter'd,) not through change of hue, 
But light transparent — did I summon up 
Genius, art, practice — I might not so speak, 
It should be e'er imagined : yet believed 
It may be, and the sight be justly craved. 
And if our fantasy fail of such height, 
What marvel, since no eye above the sun 
Hath ever travelPd? Such are they dwell here, 
Fourth family 4 of the Omnipotent Sire, 
Who of his spirit and of his offspring 5 shows ; 
And holds them still enraptured with the view 
And thus to me Beatrice : " Thank, oh thank 
The Sun of angels, him, who by his grace 
To this perceptible hath lifted thee." 

Never was heart in such devotion bound, 
And with complacency so absolute 
Disposed to render up itself to God, 
As mine was at those words : and so entire 
The love for Him, that held me, it eclipsed 
Beatrice in oblivion. Naught displeased 
Was she, but smiled thereat so joyously, 
That of her laughing eyes the radiance brakn 
And sr.atter'd my collected mind abroad. 

Then saw I a bright band, in liveliness 
Surpassing, who themselves did make the crown, 
And us their centre : yet more sweet in voice, 
Than, in their visage, beaming. Cinctured thus, 
Sometime Latona's daughter we behold, 

1 Along the spires.] According to our Poet's system, as the 
earth is motionless, the sun passes, by a spiralmotion, from 
one tropic to the other. 

2 TVJiere.] In which the sun rises every day earlier after 
the vernal equinox. 

3 But as a man.] That is, he was quite insensible of it. 

* Fourth family.] The inhabitants of the sun, the fourth 
planet. 

5 Of his spirit and of his offspring-.] The person of the 
>hird, and the generation of the second person in the Trin« 



454 THE VISION. 65-9i 

When the impregnate air retains thi thread 

That weaves her zone. In the celestial court. 
Whence I return, are many jewels fc . 
So clear and beautiful, they cannot brook 
Transporting from that realm : and of these lights 
Such was the song. 1 Who doth not prone his wing 
To soar up thither, let him 9 look from thence 
For tidings from the dumb. When, singing thus, 
Those burning suns had circled round us tnrice, 
As nearest stars around the fixed pole ; 
Then seem'd they like to ladies, from the dance 
Not ceasing, but suspense, in silent pause. 
Listening, till they have caught the strain anew : 
Suspended so they stood: and, from within. 
Thus heard I one, who spake : " Since with its beam 
The grace, whence true love iighteth first his flame 
That after doth increase by loving, shines 
So multiplied in thee, it leads thee up 
Along this ladder, clown whose hallow'd steps 
IN one e'er descend, and mount them not again; 
Who from his vial should refuse thee wine 
To slake thy thirst, no less constrained 3 were, 
Than water rlowing not unto the sea. [blcjm 

Thou fain wouldst hear, what plants are these, that 
In the brig-lit garland, which, admiring, girds 
This fair dame round, who strengthens thee for 
I. then. 4 was of the lambs, that Dominic [heaven. 
Leads, for his saintly flock, along the way 
Where well they thrive, not swol vanity 

He, nearest on my right hand, brother was. 
And master to me : Albert of Cologne 5 



1 Such was the song.] The song of these spirits was inef- 
. a jewel so ... prized, that the expor- 
tation of it to another country is prohibited by \ 

2 JL.ethim[ Let him not expect any intelligent 
that place, I r it surpasses description. 

: No lest c nsti .v i'd j " The rivers might as easily cea^s 
te flow towards the sea. as we could deny thee thy re 

4 Itken.\ ,- 1 was of the Dominican order." 

& Albert of Cologne.] A bertos Magnus was born a: Lau- 
gingen, in Thuringia, in 1193. and studied at Paris and at 
Padua ; at the latter of which places he entered into the Do- 
minican order. He then taught theology in various pa 

rticularly : Cologne. Thomas Aquinas 
was his favorite pupil. In 1260, he reluctantly accepted the 
bishopric of RafUbon, and in two years after resigned it, 
sturned to his ceu in Cologne, where the remainder of 
his lire was passed in superintending the school, and in 
composing his voluminous works on divin ry ind natural 
science. He a.ed in 1280. The absurd imputation of his 



KM04. PARADISE, Canto X, 455 

Is this ; and, of Aquinum, Thomas 1 I. 
if thou of all the rest wouldst be assured. 
Let thine eye, waiting on the words I speak, 
In circuit journey round the blessed wreath. 
That next resplendence issues from the smile 
Of Gratian, 2 who to either forum 3 lent 
Such help, as favor wins in Paradise. 
The other, nearest, who adorns our quire. 
Was Peter, 4 he that with the widow gave 

having dealt in the magical art is well known ; and his bio- 
graphers take some pains to clear him of it. Scriptores Or- 
dinis Praedicatorum, by Quetif and Echard. Lut. Par. 1719. 
fol. torn. i. p. 162. Frezzi places Albertus Magnus next in 
rank to Aristotle : 

Alberto Magno e dopo lui '1 secondo : 
Egli suppli li membri, e '] vestimentc 
Alia Filosofia in questo mondo. 

// Quadrir., lib. iv. ;ap. J. 

1 Of Aquinum, Thomas.] Thomas Aquinas, of whom Bu- 
cer is reported to have said, "Take but Thomas away, and I 
will overturn the church of Rome ;" and whom Hooker terms 
44 the greatest among the school divines," (Eccl. Pol., b. iii. 
§ 9,) was born of noble parents, who anxiously but vainly 
endeavored to divert him from a life of celibacy and study. 
He died in 1274, at the age of forty-seven. Echard and Q.ue- 
tif, ibid. p. 271. See also Purgatory, Canto xx. v. 67. A 
modern French writer has collected some particulars relating 
to the influence which the writings of Thomas Aquinas anil 
Buonaventura had on the opinions of Dante. See the third 
part of Ozanam's Dante et la Philosophie Catholique au 
treizieme siecle. 8°. Par. 1839. 

2 Gratian.] " Gratian, a Benedictine monk belonging to 
*,he convent of St. Felix and Nabor, at Bologna, and by birth 
a Tuscan, composed, about the year 113U, for the use of the 
schools, an abridgment or epitome of canon law, drawn from 
the letters of the pontiffs, the decrees of councils, and the 
writings of the ancient doctors." JMaclaine's Jfosheim, v. iii. 
cent. xii. part. ii. cap. i. $ G. 

3 To either forum.] "By reconciling," as Venturi explains 
it, " the civil with the canon law." 

4 Peter.] ' Pietro Lombardo was of obscure origin, nor is 
the place of his birth in Lombardy ascertained. With a 
recommendation from the Bishop of Lucca to St. Bernard, he 
went into France to continue his studies ; and for that pur- 
pose remained some time at Rheims, whence he afterwards 
proceeded to Paris. Here his reputation was so great, that 
Philip, brother of Louis VII. , being chosen bishop of Paris, 
resigned that dignity to Pietro, whose pupil he had been. 
He neld his bishopric only one year, and died in 1160. His 
Liber Sententiarum is highly esteemed. It contains a system 
of scholastic theology, so much more complete than any 
which had been yet seen, that it may be deemed an original 
ivork." Tiraboschi,Storia delta Lett. Tta/. torn. iii. lib. iv cap ii. 

s That with the widoio gave.] This alludes to the begin- 
ning of the Liber Sententiarum, where Peter says : " Cu- 
piens liquid de penuria ac tenuitate nostra cum paupercuU 
to gazophylaciuui domini mittere, &C." 



45ti THE VISION. 105-l>a 

To holy church his treasure. The filth light. 1 

Goodliest of all, is by such love inspired, 

That all your world craves tidings of his doom :* 

Within, there is the lofty light, endow'd 

With sapience so profound, if truth be truth, 

That with a ken of such wide amplitude 

No second hath arisen. Next behold 

That taper's radiance, 3 to whose view was showa ; 

Clearliest, the nature and the ministry 

Angelical, while yet in flesh it dwelt. 

In the other little light serenely smiles 

That pleader 4 for the Christian temples, he, 

Who did provide Augustin of his lore. 

Now, if thy mind's eye pass from light to light, 

Upon my praises following, of the eighth 5 

Thy thirst is next. The saintly soul, that shows 

The world's deceitfulness, to all who hear him, 

Is, i rith the sight of all the good that is, 



1 The fifth light.] Solomon. 

2 His doom.] It was a common question, it seems, whe- 
ther Solomon were saved or no. 

3 Thai taper's radiance.] St. Dionysins, the Areopagite. 
"The famous Grecian fanatic, who gave himself out foi 
Dionysins the Areopagite, disciple of St. Paul, and who, un- 
der the protection of this venerable name, gave laws and 
instructions to those that were desirous of raising their souls 
above all human things, in order to unite them to their great 
source by sublime contemplation, lived most probably in this 
century, (the fourth ;) though some place him before, others 
after, the present period." Madame' s Mosheim, v. i. cent. iv. 
p. 2. c. 3. § 12. 

* That pleader.] In the fifth century, Paulus Orosius 
u acquired a considerable degree of reputation by the History 
he wrote to refute the cavils of the Pagans against Chris 
tianity, and by his books against the Pelagians and Priscil- 
lianists." Ibid., v. ii. cent. v. p. ii. c. ii. § 11. A similar train 
of argument was pursued by Augustine, in his book De Civi- 
tate Dei. 

Orosius is classed by Dante, in his treatise De Vulg. Eloq. 
lib. ii. cap. vi., as one of his favorite authors, among those 
"qui usi sunt altissimas prosas," — " who have written prose 
with the greatest loftiness of style." The others are Cicero, 
Livy, Pliny, and Frontinus. Some commentators, with less 
probability, suppose that this seventh spirit is Saint Am- 
brose, and not Orosius. 

5 The eighth.] Boetius, whose book De Consolatione Phi- 
losophise excited so much attention during the middle ages, 
was born, as Tiraboschi conjectures, about 470. " In 524 he 
was cruelly put to death, by command of Theodoric, eithel 
on real or pretended suspicion of his being engaged in a coa 
spiracy." Delia Lett. Ual., torn. iii. lib. i. cap. iv. 



123-142. PARADISE, Canto X. 45? 

Blest there. The limbs, whence it was driven, lis 

Down in Cieldauro j 1 and from martyrdom 

And exile came it here. Lo! farther on, 

Where flames the arduous spirit of Isidore ; 2 

Of Bede ; 3 and Richard, 4 more than man, erewkile, 

In deep discernment. Lastly this, from whom 

Thy look on me reverteth, was the beam 

Of one, whose spirit, on high musings bent, 

Rebuked the lingering tardiness of death. 

It is the eternal light of Sigebert 5 

Who "scaped not envy, when of truth he argued, 

Reading in the straw-litter'd street.' 16 Forthwith, 

As clock, that calleth up the spouse of God 7 

To win her bridegroom's love at matin's hour, 

Each part of other fitly drawn and urged, 

Sends out a tinkling sound, of note so sweet, 

Affection springs in well-disposed breast ; 

Thus saw I move the glorious wheel ; thus heard 

Voice answering voice, so musical and soft, 

It can be known but where day endless shines. 



1 Cieldauro.] Boe tins was buried at Pavia, in the monas- 
tery of St. Pietro in Ciel d'oro. 

2 Isidore.] ' He was Archbishop of Seville during forty 
years, and died in 635. See Mariana, Hist., lib. vi. cap. vii. 

Mosheim, whose critical opinions in general must be taken 
with some allowance, observes, that ''his grammatical, theo- 
logical, and historical productions, discover more learning and 
pedantry than judgment and taste." 

3 Bede.] Bede, whose virtues obtained him the appellation 
of the Venerable, was born in 672, at Wermouth and Jarrow, 
in the bishopric of Durham, and died in 735. Invited to Rome 
by Pope Sergius I., he preferred passing almost the whole" of 
his life in the seclusion of a monastery. A catalogue of his 
numerous writings maybe seen in Kippis's Biographia Britan- 
nica, v. ii 

4 Richard.] Richard of St. Victor, a native either of Scot- 
land or Ireland, was canon and prior of the monastery of that 
name at Paris; and died in 1173. "He was at the head of 
the Mystics in this century ; and his treatise, entitled the 
Mystical Ark, which contains as it were the marrow of this 
kind Of theology, was received with the greatest avidity.'* 
Jdaclaine's Mosheim, v. iii. cent. xii. p. ii. c. ii. § 23. 

8 Sigebert.] " A monk of the abbey of Gemblours, who was 
in high repute at the end of the eleventh, and beginning of 
the twelfth century." Diet, de Jloreri. 

6 The straw-litter" 1 d street.] The name of a street in Paris 
the ' ; Rue de Fouarre." 

7 The spouse of God.] The church. 

39 



458 THE VISION. 1-31 

CANTO XL 

ARGUMENT. 

Thomas Aquinas enters at large into the life and charactei 
of St. Francis : and then solves one of two difficulties, 
which he perceived to have risen in Dante's mind from 

what he had heard in the last Canto. 

fond anxiety of mortal men I 1 
How vain and inconclusive arguments 

Are those, which make thee beat thy wings below. 

For statutes one, and one for aphorisms' 2 

Was hunting ; this the priesthood follow'd : that, 

By force or sophistry, aspired to rule ; 

To rob, another : and another sought, 

By civil business, wealth ; one, moiling, lay 

Tangled in net of sensual delight ; 

And one to wistless indolence resigned : 

What time from all these empty things escaped, 

With Beatrice, 1 thus gloriously 

Was raised aloft, and made the guest of heaven 

They of the circle to that point, each one, 
Where erst it was, had turn'd ; and steady glow'd, 
As candle in his socket. Then within 
The lustre, 3 that erewhile bespake me. smiling 
With merer gladness, heard I thus begin : 

" E'en as his beam illumes me, so I look 
Into the eternal light, and clearly mark ^do^bt, 

Thy thoughts, from whence they rise. Thou art in 
And wouldst that I should bolt my words afresh 
In such plain open phrase, as may be smooth 
To thy perception, where I told thee late 
That ' well they thrive :' 4 and that •' no second such 
Hath risen/ which no small distinction needs. 

•'•' The Providence, that governeth the world, 
In depth of counsel by created ken 
Unfathomable, to the end that she, 6 
Who with loud cries was 'spoused in precious blood, 
Might keep her footing towards her well-beloved, 7 

1 fond anxiety of mortal men.] Lucretius, lib. ii. 1-1. 

O miseras hominum mentes ! O pectora caeca! 
Qualibus in tenebris vitas. quantisque periclis 
Degitur hoc sevi quodcimque est ! 

2 Aphorisms.] The study of medicine. 

3 The lustre.) The spirit of Thomas Aquinas. 

4 That * well they thrive.'} See the last Canto, v. 03. 

5 ' Jfa second such.') See the last Canto, v. 111. 
s S8kc] The church. 

> Her icell-beloved.] Jes^s Christ. 



32-57. PARADISE, Canto XL 459 

Safe in herself and constant unto him, 

Hath two ordain'd, who should on either hand 

In chief escort her : one, 1 seraphic all 

In fervency ; for wisdom upon earth. 

The other, 2 splendor of cherubic light. 

I but of one will tell : he tells of both, 

Who one commendeth, which of them soe'er 

Be taken : for their deeds were to one end. 

" Between Tupino, 3 and the wave that falls 
From blest Ubaldo's chosen hill, there hangs 
Rich slope of mountain high, whence heat and cold 1 
Are wafted through Perugia's eastern gate : 
And Nocera with Gualdo, in its rear, 
Mourn for their heavy yoke. 5 Upon that side, 
Where it doth break its steepness most, arose 
A sun upon the world, as duly this 
From Ganges doth : therefore let none, who speak 
Of that place, say Ascesi ; for its name 
Were lamely so deliver'd ; but the East, 6 
To call things rightly, be it henceforth styled. 
He was not yet much distant from his rising, 
When his good influence 'gan to bless the earth. 
A dame, 7 to whom none openeth pleasure's gate 
More than to death, was, 'gainst his father's will, 8 
His stripling choice : and he did make her his, 
Before the spiritual court, 9 by nuptial bonds, 

1 One.] S:\int Francis. 

2 The other.] Saint Dominic. 

3 Tupino.] Thomas Aquinas proceeds to describe the 
birthplace of Saint Francis, between Tupino, a rivulet near 
Assisi, or Ascesi, where the saint was born in 1182, and Chi 
ascib, a stream that rises in a mountain near Agobbio, chosen 
by Saint Ubaldo for the place of his retirement. 

4 Heat and cold.] Cold from the snow, and heat from the 
reflection of the sun. 

5 Yoke.] Vellutello understands this of the vicinity of the 
mountain to Nocera and Gualdo ; and Venturi (as I have 
taken it) of the heavy impositions laid on those places by the 
Perugians. For giogo, like the Latin jugum, will admit of 
either sense. 

6 The East.] 

This is the east, and Juliet is the sun. Shakspeare. 

7 A dame.] There is in the under church of St. Francis, at 
Assisi, a picture painted by Giotto from this subject. It is 
considered one of the artist's best works. See Kugler's 
Hand-book of the History of Painting, translated by a lady. 
Lond., 1342, p. 48. 

8 'Gainst his father's will.] In opposition to the wishes of 
his natural father. 

9 Before the spiritual court.] He made a vow of poverty 
ui the presence of the bishop a\id of his natural father. 



460 THE VISION. 69- 82 

And in his father's sight : from day to day, 

Then loved her more devoutly. She, bereaved 

Of her first husband, 1 slighted and obscure, 

Thousand and hundred years and more, remain'd 

Without a single suitor, till he came. 

Nor aught avail'd, that, with Amyclas, 2 she 

Was found unmoved at rumor of his voice, [nesa 

Who shook the world : nor aught her constant bold- 

Whereby with Christ she mounted on the cross, 

When Mary stay'd beneath. But not to deal 

Thus closely with thee longer, take at large 

The lovers' titles — Poverty and Francis. 

Their concord and glad looks, wonder and love, 

And sweet regard gave birth to holy thoughts, 

So much, that venerable Bernard 3 first 

Did bare his feet, and, in pursuit of peace 

So heavenly, ran, yet deem'd his footing slow. 

O hidden riches ! O prolific good ! 

Egidius 4 bares him next, and next Sylvester, 5 

And follow, both, the bridegroom : so the bride 

Can please them. Thenceforth goes he on his way, 

The father and the master, with his spouse, 

And with that family, whom now the cord 6 

Girt humbly : nor did abjectness of heart 

Weigh down his eyelids, for that he was son 

1 Her first husband.'] Christ. 

2 Amyclas.'] Lucan makes Caesar exclaim, on witnessing 
he secure poverty of the fisherman Amyclas : — 

O vitae tuta facultas 

Pauperis, angustique lares ! O munera nondum 

Intellects deum ! quibus hoc contingere templis, 

Aut potuit muris, nullo trepidare tumultu, 

Caesarea pulsante manu 1 Phars., lib. v. 531 

O happy poverty ! thou greatest good 

Bestow'd by heaven, but seldom understood ! 

Here nor the cruel spoiler seeks his prey, 

Nor ruthless armies take their dreadful way, &c. 

Rome. 

A translation in prose of these lines is introduced by our Poet 

in his Convito, p. 107. 

3 Bernard.] Of duintavalle ; one of the first followers ol 
the saint. 

4 Egidius.] The third of his disciples, who died in 1262. 
His work, entitled Verba Aurea, was published in 1534, at 
Antwerp. See Lucas Wariiiingus, Annales Ordinis Minoris, 
p 5. 

6 Sylvester.] Another of his earliest associates. 

6 Whom now the cord.] Saint Francis bound his body with 
& cord, in sign that he considered it as a beast, and that it re 
quired, like a beast, to be led by a halter. 



83-112. PARADISE, Cakto Xl. 401 

Of Pietro Bernardone, 1 and by men 

In wondrous sort despised. But royally 

His hard intention he to Innocent 2 

Set forth : and, from him, first received the seal 

On his religion. Then, when numerous flock ? d 

The tribe of lowly ones, that traced his steps, 

Whose marvellous life deservedly were sung 

In heights empyreal ; through Honorius' 2 hand 

A second crown, to deck their Guardian's virtues, 

Was by the eternal Spirit inwreath'd : and whezi 

He had, through thirst of martyrdom, stood up 

In the proud Soldan's presence, 4 and there preach'd 

Christ and his followers, but found the race 

Unripen'd for conversion ; back once more 

He hasted, (not to intermit his toil) 

And reap'd Ausonian lands. On the hard reck, 5 

'Twixt Amo and the Tiber, he from Christ 

Took the last signet, 6 which his limbs two years 

Did carry. Then, the season come that he, 

Who to such good had destined him, was pleased 

To advance him to the meed, which he had eam'd 

By his self-humbling : to his brotherhood, 

As their just heritage, he gave in charge 

His dearest lady : 7 and enjoin'd their love 

And faith to her ; and, from her bosom, will'd 

His goodly spirit should move forth, returning 

To its appointed kingdom ;• nor would have 

His body 8 laid upon another bier. 

i; Think now of one, who were a fit colleague 
To keep the bark of Peter, in deep sea, 



i Pietro Bernardone.] A man in an humble station of lift 
at Assisi. 

2 Innocent.] Pope Innocent J II. 

8 Honorius.] His successor Honorius III. who granted cer- 
tain privileges to the Franciscans. 

4 In the proud Soldan's presence.] The Soldan of Egypt, 
before whom Saint Francis is said to have preached. 

5 On the hard rock.] The mountain Alverna in the Anen 
nine. 

6 The last signet.] Alluding to the stigmata, or marks re 
sembling the wounds of Christ, said to have been found on 
the saint's body. 

7 His dearest lady.] Poverty. 

8 His body.] He forbade any funeral pomp to be observed at 
his burial ; and, as it is said, ordered that his remains should 
be deposited in a place where criminals were executed fcci 
interred. 



4:62 THE VISION. 113-129- 

Helm'd to right point : and such our Patriarch 1 \va* 

Therefore who follow him as he enjoins. 

Thou mayst be certain, take good lading in. 

But hunger of new viands tempts his flock : 2 

So that they needs into strange pastures wide 

Must spread them: and the more remote from him 

The stragglers wander, so much more they come 

Home, to the sheep-fold, destitute of milk. 

There are of them, in truth, who fear their harm, 

And to the shepherd cleave : but these so few, 

A little stuff may furnish out their cloaks. 

•'•' Now, if my words be clear ; if thou have ta'en 
Good heed ; if that, which I have told, recall 
To mind ; thy wish may be in part fulfill'd : 
For thou wilt see the plant from whence they split ; 
And he shall see, who girds him, what that means, 4 
( That well they thrive, not swoin with vanity.' '' 



CAXTO XII. 



ARGUMENT. 

4 second circle of glorified souls encompasses the first. Buon 
avenrura, who is one of them, celebrates the pra>se^ of 
Saint Dominic, and informs Dante who the other eleven 
are. that are in this second circle or garland. 

Soon as its final word the blessed flame 5 
Had raised for utterance, straight the holy mill* 
Began to wheel ; nor yet had once revolved, 
Or ere another, circling, compass'd it. 
Motion to motion, song to song, conjoining ; 
Song, that as much our muses doth excel, 
Our Syrens with their tuneful pipes, as ray 

1 Our Patriarch.] Saint Dominic, to whose order Thomas 
Aquinas belonged. 

2 His flock.] The Dominicans. 

3 The pi 'ant from whence they split.) "The rule of the Lr 
order, which the Dominicans neglect to observe.'' 

4 And he shall 'see, who girds him, what that means.] Lorn 
bardi. afrerthe Xidobeatina edition, together with four MS&, 
reads " il correggiar." or "il coregier." which sives the sense 
that now stands in the text of this version. The Dominicans 
might be called •■ coreggieri." from their wearing a leathers 
girdle, as the Franciscans were called " cordi£lieri." from theii 
being girt with a cord. I had before followed the common 
reading. " il corregger;" and translated the line according Uj 
Venturi's interpretation of it: — 

Nor miss of the reproof which that implies. 
s The blessed fume.) Thomas Aquinas 
• The holy mill.) The circle of spirits. 



6-28. PARADISE, Canto XII. 463 

Of primal splendor doth its faint reflex. 

As when, if Juno bid her handmaid forth, 
Two arches parallel, and trick'd alike, 
Span the thin cloud, the outer taking birth 
From that within, (in manner of that voice 1 
Whom love did melt away, as sun the mist,) 
And they who gaze, presageful call to mind 
The compact made with Noah, of the world 
No more to be o'erflow'd ; about us thus, 
Of sempiternal roses, bending, wreathed 
Those garlands twain ; and to the innermost 
E'en thus the external answer' d. When the footing, 
And other great festivity, of song, 
And radiance, light with light accordant, each 
Jocund and blithe, had at their pleasure still'd, 
(E'en as the eyes, by quick volition moved, 
Are shut and raised together.) from the heart 
Of one 2 among the new lights 3 moved a voice, 
That made me seem 4 like needle to the star, 
In turning to its whereabout ; 5 and thus 
Began: " The love, 6 that makes me beautiful, 



1 In manner of that voice] One rainbow giving back the 
image of the other, as sound is reflected by Echo, that 
nymph who was melted away by her fondness for Narcissus, 
as vapor is melted by the sun. The reader will observe in 
the text not only a second and third simile within the first, 
but two mythological and one sacred allusion bound up to- 
gether with the whole. Even after this accumulation of 
imagery, the two circles of spirits, by whom Beatrice and 
Dante were encompassed, are by a bold figure termed two 
garlands of never-fading roses. Indeed, there is a fulness 
of splendor, even to prodigality, throughout the beginning of 
this Cant 3. 

2 One.] Saint Buonaventura, general of the Franciscan 
order, in which he effected some reformation ; and one of the 
most profound divines of his age. " He refused the archbish- 
opric of York, which was offered him by Clement IV., but 
afterwards was prevailed on to accept the bishopric of Alba- 
no and a cardinal's hat. He was born at Bagnoregio or Bag- 
norea, in Tuscany, A. D. 1221, and died in 1274." Diet. His 
tor. par Chaudon et Delandine. Ed. Lyon. 1801. 

3 Among the, neve lights.] In the circle that had newly sur- 
rounded the first. 

4 That made me seem.] "That made me turn to it, as the 
magnetic needle does to the pole." 

5 To its whereabout.] Al suo dove. 

The very stones prate of my whereabout. 

Shakspeare, .Macbeth^ act ii. sc. 1 

• The Itve.] By an act of mutual courtesy, Buonaventura, 

a Franciscan, is made to proclaim the praises of St. Dominic, 

as Thomas Aquinas, a Dominican, has celebrated those oi 



464 THE VISION, 29-51 

Prompts me tc tell ■:: the other crude, for whom 
Such good of mine is spoken. Where one is, 
The other vrorthily should also be : 
That as their warfare we 

Jul ; t e rheir glory. Slow, and fall of doubt. 
And with thin ranks, after its banner moved 
The army of Christ, which ;: so dearly cost 
To reappoint when its imperial Head, 
Who reigneth ever, foi the drooping host 
Did make provision, thorough gTace alone, 
And not through its deserving. As thou hoard's!, 
Two champions to the succor of his spov. 
He sent, wno by their d^eds and words migbl ; 
Again his scattei In that el 

Where springs the pleasant west-wind to unfold 
The fresh Leaves, with which Euro;: irselv 

New-garmented : nor from those billows 5 far, 
Beyond whose chid : wean* course, 

The sun dirir some rimes" hife him ; safe a'.rides 

Subjected and supreme. And there was t 
The loving minion of tire Christian faith/ 

Si Francis; and in like a - mes the irre. 

lies, nol if the .:':.::'< nder, but of thai ::■ which himself be- 

Bv . :h. attributes 

11. hei i sneec hese two saints 

•• Ultimo \'.'.~ Se;:e. si v . : jueste ] lovasioni essei 

iieir- _ " ; : " . . : : la quale. Sr 

Don fosse staia ritirata vetso il sue la San Fran- 

: 3sc i e da San I 1 - meni jo, saiebbe 

sopra la prima Deca di T. Lirio, lib. iii. c. 1. u As to sects. 
il is seen thi : these ren va lions : necessai 
; r o: "ii: r-i'iziin. v.-hnh. ::" i: i: .- I :: : mer. imw:: :■?.<:!-: ::, 
nc pie by St Francis and St Dcminic, would be entirely 
"grasiie i. 

i Ms thou heard' St.] See the last Canto, v. 33 

2 In that clime.] Spain. 

3 Those billows.} The Atlantic. 

4 Sometimes.'] During the summer solstice. 

: Cz:'.:.-:rz.'_ Ei^'iin 0?:r.:-. :-.:.': A::-.:.L\. ::: 'i'.L Ci-s-i:.-- 
iesagn -ited by tlie royal coat of arms. 

6 The loving minion of the Christian faith.] Dcminic was 
b-'i-n A:ril .:.~1170. :. I died Augnsl B, 1221. Bis birthplace 
Callaroga ; his father and mother's names. Felix and J 
his mother's dream; his name of Dominic, jfven him in 
consequence of a vision by a noble matron who stood spon- 
sor to him, are all 1old in an anonymous 
?.-jg to be \vj tarn in the thirteenth centary, and ran! ebed bi 
AiTif ir.i. Ehiiro. rfcr.pores C>rli:i:s Pr<£d;ca«on»fc P&I 



52-75. PARADISE, Canio XII. 465 

The hallow'd wrestler, gentle 1 to his own* 

And to his enemies terrible. So replete 

His soul with lively virtue, that when first 

Created, even in the mother's womb, 2 

It prophesied. When, at the sacred font, 

The spousals were complete 'twixt faith and him, 

Where pledge of mutual safety was exchanged, 

The dame, 3 who was his surety, in her sleep 

Beheld the wondrous fruit, that was from him 

And from his heirs to issue. And that such 

He might be construed, as indeed he was, 

She was inspired to name him of his owner, 

Whose he was wholly ; and so called him Dominic 

And I speak of him. as the laborer, 

Whom Christ in his own garden chose to be 

His help-mate. Messenger he seem'd, and friend 

Fast-knit to Christ ; and the first love he showed, 

Was after the first counsel 4 that Christ gave. 

.Many a time 5 his nurse, at entering, found 

That he had risen in silence, and was prostrate, 

As who should say, ' My errand was for this.' 

O happy father ! Felix 6 rightly named. 

O favor'd mother ! rightly named Joanna ; 

If that do mean, as men interpret it. 7 

1719, fol. torn. i. p. 25. These writers deny his having been 
an inquisitor, and indeed the establishment of the inquisition 
itself before the fourth Lateran Council. Ibid. p. 88. 

1 Gentle.] 

BapeXav i\0po7g : Kal <pi\oi<nv EVfxevr}. 

Eurip. .Medea, v. 805. 
Lofty and sour to those, that loved him not, 
But to those men, that sought him, sweet as summer. 

Shakspeare, Henry VIII., act iv. sc. 2. 

2 In the mother's nomb.] His mother, when pregnant with 
him, is said to have dreamed that she should bring forth a 
tvhite and black dog with a lighted torch in his mouth, which 
were signs of the habit to be worn by his order, and of liia 
fervent zeal. 

3 The dcfjae.] His godmother's dream was, that he had one 
star in his forehead, and another in the nape of his neck, from 
which he communicated light to the east and the west. 

4 After the first eounsel.] u Jesus said unto him. If thou nil! 
be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, aud give to the poor, 
and thou shalt have treasure in heaven ; and come and follow 
me." Matth. xix. 21. Dominic is said to have followed this 
advice. 

5 Many a time.] His nurse, when she returned to him, 
often found that he had left his bed, and was prostrate, and 
61 prayer= 

6 Felix.} Felix Gusman. 

T As men interpret it.] Grace or gift of the Lord. 



466 THE VISION 70-93 

Not for the world's sake, for which now they toil 
Upon Ostiense 1 and Ta-ddeo's' 2 lore. 
But for the real manna, soon he grew 

Mighty in learning ; and did set himself 

To go about the vineyard, that soon turns 

To wan and wither' d. if not tended well : 

And from the see.' (whose bounty to the just 

And needy Is gone by. not through, its fault, 

But his who fills it basely/, he besought, 

No dispensation 4 for commuted wrong, 

Noi the first vacant fortune. 5 nor the tenths 

That to God's paupers rightly appertain. 

But, 'gainst an erring and degenerate world, 

License to tight, in favor of that seed 6 

From which the twice twelve cions gird thee round 

Then, with sage doctrine and good will to help, 

Forth on his great apostleship he fared, 

Like torrent bursting from a lofty vein ; 

i Ostiense.] Airigo a native of Susa. formerly a consider 
able city in Piedmont, and cardinal of Ostia and Velletri, 
whence he acquired the name of Ostiense, was celebrated for 
his lectures on the rive books of the Decretals. He nourished 
about the year 1-250. He is classed by Frezzi with Accorso 
the Florentine. 

Poi Ostiense. e'l Fiorentino Accorso. 
Che fe le chiose. e dichiarb '1 mio testo. 
E alle ieggi diede gran soccorso. 

II Quadrir.. lib. iv. cap. 12. 
2 Taddeo*] It is uncertain whether he speaks of the physi- 
cian or the lawyer of that name. The former. Taddeo d'Al- 
derotto. a Florentine, called the Hippocratean. translated the 
ethics of Aristotle into Latin : and died at an advanced age 
towards the end of the thirteenth century. The other, who 
was of Bologna, and celebrated for his legal knowledge, left 
uo writings behind him. He is also spoken of by Frezzi : 
Azzo e Taddeo gia funnoli maggiori; 
E ora ognun 1 e oscuro, e tal appare 
dual' e la Inna alii febei splendor! 

11 Quadrir.. lib. iv. cap. 13 
8 The see.] " The apostolic see. which no longer continues 
its wonted liberality towards the indigent and deserving; 
not indeed through its own fault, as its doctrines are still 
the same, but through the fault of the pomiff. who is seated 
in it." 

4 Xo dispensation.] Dominic did not ask license to com- 
pound for the nse of unjust acquisitions by dedicating a pari 
of them to pious purposes. 

5 Nor the first vacant fortune.] Not the first benefice that 
fell vacant. 

6 In favor of that seed.] " For that seed of the dirine word, 
from which have sprung up these four-and-tweury plants, 
these holy spirits that now environ thee ' 



3-J-123. PARADISE, Canto XII 167 

And, dashing 'gainst the stocks cf heresy. 
Smote fiercest, where resistance was most stout. 
Thence many rivulets have since been turn'd, 
Over the garden catholic to lead 
Their living waters, and have fed its plants. 

" If such, one wheel 1 of that two-yoked car, 
Wherein the holy church defended her, 
And rode triumphant through the civil broil ; 
Thou canst not doubt its fellow's excellence, 
Which Thomas, 2 ere my coming, hath declared 
So courteously unto thee. But the track, 3 
Which its smooth felloes made, is now deserted 
That, mouldy mother is, where late were lees. 
His family, that wont to trace his path, 
Turn backward, and invert their steps ; ere long* 
To rue the gathering in of their ill crop, 
When the rejected tares 4 in vain shall ask 
Admittance to the barn. I question not 6 
But he, who search'd our volume, leaf by leaf, 
Might still find page with this inscription on't, 
' I am as I was wont.' Yet such were not 
From Ac^uasparta nor Casale, whence, 
Of those who come to meddle with the text, 
One stretches and another cramps its rule. 
Bonaventura's life in me behold, 
From Bagnoregio ; one, who, in discharge 
Of my great offices, still laid aside 
All sinister aim. Illuminato here, 
And Agostino 6 join me : two they were, 
Among the first of those barefooted meek ones, 

i One wheel.] Dominic ; as the other wheel is Francis. 

2 T^mas.] Thomas Aquinas. 

3 But the track. \ "But the rule of St. Francis is. already 
deserted : and the lees of the wine are turned into mouldi« 
ness. ' 

4 Tares ] He adverts to the parable of the tares aad the 
wheat 

6 I question not.] " Some indeed might be found, who still 
observe the rule of the order : but such would come neither 
from Casale nor Acquasparta." At Casale, in Monferrat, 
the discipline had been enforced by Uberto with unneces- 
sary rigor; and a f , Acqua?parta, in the territory of Todi, it 
had been equally relaxed by the Cardinal Matteo, general 
of the order. Lucas Waddingus, as cited by Lombardi, cor- 
rects the errors of the commentators who had confounded 
these two. 

6 Illuminato here, 

And Agostino.] Two among the earliest followers of Si 
Francis. 



•168 THE VISION. 134-128 

Who sought God's friendship in the cord: with 

them 
Hugues of Saint Victor ; J Pietro Mangiadore ; a 
And he of Spain 3 in his twelve volumes shining ; 
Nathan the prophet ; Metropolitan 
Chrysostom ; 4 and Anselmo ; 5 and, who deign'd 



i Hug-ues of St. Victor.] Landino makes him of Pavia 
Venturi calls him a Saxon ; and Lombardi, following Alex- 
ander Xatalis. Hist. Eccl.. Sac. xi. cap. 6, art. 9, says that he 
was from Ypres. He was of the monastery of Saint Victor 
at Paris, and died in 1142, at the age of forty-four. His ten 
books, illustrative of the celestial hierarchy of Dionysius the 
Areopagite. according to the translation of Joannes Scotus, 
are inscribed to King Louis, son of Louis le Gros, by whom 
the monastery had been founded. Opera Hug. de S. Vict., 
fo\. Paris. 1526, torn. i. 3-29. "A man distinguished by the 
fecundity of his genius, who treated, in his writings, of all 
the branches of sacred and profane erudition that were known 
in his time, and who composed several dissertations that are 
not destitute of.merit." Madeline's Mosheim, Eccl. Hist., v. 
iii. cent. xii. p. 2. c. 2. (\ 23. I have looked into his writings, 
and found some reason for this high eulogium. . 

- Pietro Mangiadarc] " Petrus Comestor. or the Eater, born 
at Troves, was canon and dean of that church, and afterwards 
chancellor of the church of Paris. He relinquished these 
benefices to become a regular canon of St. Victor at Paris, 
where he died in 1198." Chaudon et Detandine, Diet. Hist. 
Ed. Lyon. 15u4. 

The work by which he is best known, is his Historia Sco 
lastica. which I shall have occasion to cite in the Notes xo 
Canto xxvi. 

s He of Spain.] "To Pope Adrian V. succeeded John XXL, 
a native of Lisbon : a man of great genius and extraordinary 
acquirements, especially in logic and in medicine, as his 
books written in the name of Peter of Spain (by which he 
was known before he became pope) may testify. His life was 
not much longe: than that of his predecessors, for he was 
killed at Viterbo, by the falling in of the roof of his cham 
ber. after he had been pontiff onlv eight months and as manv 
days." A. D. 1277. Mariana, Hist. ~dc Esp.. 1. xiv. c. 2. Hi's 
Thesaurus Pauperum is referred to in Brown's Vulgar Errors 
B. vii. ch. 7. 

4 Chrysostom. The eloquent patriarch of Constantinople 

5 Anselmo.] " Anselm. archbishop of Canterbury, was born 
Rt Aosta. about 1034. and studied under Lanfranc, at the mon- 
astery of Bee in Normandy, where he afterwards devoted 
himself to a religious life, 'in his twenty-seventh year. In 
three years he was made prior, and then abbot of that monas- 
tery : 'from whence he was taken in 1093. to succeed to the 
archbishopric, vacant by the death of Lanfranc. He enjoyed 
this dignity till his death, in 1109. though it was disturbed by 
many dissensions with William II. and Henry I., respecting 
immunities and investitures. There is much depth and pre- 
cision in his theological works." Tirabosthi. Stor. deila Lett, 
Ualn torn. iii. lib iv. cap. 2. 



I2fr-135. PARADISE, Canto XIII. 469 

To put his hand to the first art, Donatus. 1 

Rabair is here ; and at my side there shines 

Calabria's abbot, Joachim, 3 endow' d 

With soul prophetic. The bright courtesy 

Of friar Thomas and his goodly lore, 

Have moved me to the blazon of a peer 4 

So worthy ; and with me have moved this throng * 



CANTO XIII 



ARGUMENT 



Diomas Aquinas resumes his speech. He solves the othei 
of those doubts which he discerned in the mind of Dante, 
and warns him earnestly against assenting to any proposi- 
tion without having duly examined it. 

Let him, 5 who would conceive what now I say, 
Imagine, (and retain the image firm 
As mountain rock, the whilst he hears me speak,; 
Of stars, fifteen, from midst the ethereal host 



Ibid., c. v. "It is an observation made by many modern 
writers, that the demonstration of the existence of God, 
taken from the idea of a Supreme Being, of which Des Cartes 
is thought to be the author, was so many ages back discover- 
ed and brought to light by Anselin. Leibnitz himself makes 
the remark, vol. v. Oper., p. 570. Edit. Genev. 17G8." 

1 Donatus.] iElius Donatus, the grammarian, in the fourth 
century, one of the preceptors of St. Jerome. 

So Fazio degli Uberti, Dittamondo, lib. ii. cap. 13. 
In questo tempo Donato vivea, 
Che delle arti in si breve volume 
L'uscio n'aperse e la prima scalea. 

2 Raban.] " He was made Archbishop of Mentz in 847 
His Latino-Theotische Glossary of the Bible is still preserve! 
in the imperial library at Vienna. See Lambesius, Comment. 
de Bibl., lib. ii. pp. 416 and 932." Gray's Works, 4to. Lond. 
1814. vol. ii. p. 33. 

" Rabanus Maurus, Archbishop of Mentz, is deservedly 
placed at the head of the Latin writers of this age." Jllosheim, 
v. ii. cent. ix. p. 2, c.2, § 14. 

3 Joachim.] Abbot of Flora in Calabria ; " whom the mul- 
titude revered as a person divinely inspired, and equal to the 
most illustrious prophets of ancient times." Mosheim, v. iii. 
cent. xiii. p. 2, c. 2, § 33. 

4 A peer.] St. Dominic. 

6 Let Mm.] " Whoever would conceive the sight that now 
presented itself to me, must imagine to himself fifteen of the 
brightest stars in heaven, together with seven stars of Arctu- 
ras Major and two of Arcturus Minor, ranged in two circles, 
one within the other, each resembling the crown of Ariadne, 
and moving round in opposite directions." 
40 



470 THE VISION. 5-31 

Selected, that., with lively ray serene, 
O'ercome the massiest air: thereto imagine 

The wain, that, in the bosom of our sky, 

Spins ever on its axle night and day, 

With the bright summit of that horn, which swells 

Due from the pole, round which the first wheel roll^ 

To have ranged themselves in fashion of two signs 

In heaven, such as Ariadne made. 

When death's chill seized her: and that one of them 

Did compass in the other's beam ; and both 

In such sort whirl around, that each should tend 

With opposite motion: and, concaving thus, 

Of that true constellation, and the dance 

Twofold, that circled me. he shall attain 

As 'twere the shadow : for things there as much 

Surpass our usage, as the swiftest heaven 

Is swifter than the Chiana. 1 There was sung 

No Bacchus, and no Io Paean, but 

Three Persons in the Godhead, and in one 

Person that nature and the human join'd. 

The sons; and round were measured : and to us 
Those saintly lights attended, happier made 
At each new ministering. Then silence brake 
Amid the accordant sons of Deity, 
That luminary," in which the wondrous life 
Of the meek man of God 3 was told to me : 
And thus it spake : " One ear 4 o' the harvest thresh'd, 
And its grain safely stored, sweet charity 
Invites me with the other to like toil. 

" ThoLiknow'st. that in the bosom. 5 whence the rib 
Was ta'en to fashion that fair cheek, whose taste 
All the world pays for : and in that, which pierced 
By the keen lance, both after and before 

i The Chiana.) See Hell, Canto xxix 45. 
- That luminary.] Thomas Aquinas. 

The meek man of Goa\\ Saint Francis See Canto xi. 25 

4 One ear.] "Having solved one of thy questions, I pro- 
ceed to answer the other. Thou thinkes't then that Adam 
and Christ were both endued with all the perfection of which 
the human nature is capable: and therefore wonderest at 
what has been said concerning Solomon." 

5 In the bosom.] "Thou knowest that in the breast of 
Adam, whence the rib was taken to make that fair cheek of 
Eve, which, by tasting- the apple, brought death into the 
world; and also in the breast of Christ, which, being pierced 
by the lance, made satisfaction for the sins of the whole 
world : as much wisdom resided as human nature was capa- 
ble of: and thou dost therefore wonder that I should have 
*poken of Solomon as the wisest." See Canto x. 105. 



S8-69 PARADISE, Canto XIII. 471 

Such satisfaction ofFer'd as outweighs 
Eacli evil in the scale ; whate'er of light 
To human nature is allow'd, must all 
Have by his virtue been infused, who form'd 
Both one and other : and thou thence admirest 
In that I told thee, of beatitudes, 
A second there is none to him enclosed 
In the fifth radiance. Open now thine (yes 
To what I answer thee ; and thou shalt see 
Thy deeming and my saying meet in truth, 
As centre in the round. That 1 which dies not, 
And that which can die, are but each the beam 
Of that idea, which our Sovereign Sire 
Engendereth loving ; for that lively light f 
Which passeth from his splendor, not disjoined 
From him, nor from his love triune with them,* 
Doth, through his bounty, congregate itself, 
Mirror'd, as 'twere, in new existences ; 4 
Itself unalterable, and ever one. 

" Descending hence unto the lowest powers, 6 
Its enercry so sinks, at last it makes 
But brief contingencies : for so I name 
Things generated, which the heavenly orbs 
Moving, with seed or without seed, produce. 
Their wax, and that which moulds it, 6 differ much 
And thence with lustre, more or less, it shows 
The ideal stamp impressed : so that one tree, 
According to his kind, hath better fruit, 
And worse : and, at your birth, ye, mortal men. 
Are in your talents various. Were the wax 
Moulded with nice exactness, and the heaven 7 
In its disposing influence supreme, 

i That.] "Things, corruptible and incorruptible, are only 
emanations from the archetypal idea residing in the Divine 
Hind." 

a Light.} The Word : the Son of God. 

3 His love triune with them.] The Holy Ghost. 

4 JVeio existences.] Angels find human souls. If we read 
with some editions and many MSS. " nove" instead of 
'nuove," it should be rendered u nine existences," and then 

means " the nine heavens ;" and this reading is approved by 
Lombardi, Biagioli, and Monti. In the terms " sussistenze," 
and "contingenze," " existences and contingencies," Dante 
follows the language of the scholastic writers, which I have 
endeavored to preserve. 

5 The lowest powers.] Irrational life and brute matter 

6 Their wax. and that which moulds it.] Matter, and tks 
rirtue or energy that acts on it. 

7 Thf heaven.] The influence of the planetary bodies. 



4T2 THE VISION to-W 

The brightness of the seal 1 should be complete ; 

But nature renders it imperfect ever : 
Resembling thus the artist, in her work. 
Whose faltering hand is faithless to his sk 
Therefore, 3 if fervent love dispose, and mark 
The lustrous image of the primal virtue. 
There all perfection is vouchsafed : and such 
The clay 5 was made, accomplish* d with each grift, 
That Lie can teem with ; such the burden fill'd 
The virgin's bosom : so that I commend 
Thy judgment, that the human nature ne'er 
Was. or can be. such as in them it was. 

" Did I advance no further than this poii 
•' How then had he no peer V thou might'st reply. 
Bur. that what now appears not. may appear 
Right plainly, ponder, who he was. and what 
^ hen he was bidden. •' Ask.' the motive, sway'd 
To his requesting. I have spoken thus. 
That thou mayst see. he was a king, who ask'd 4 
For wisdom, to the end he might be king 
Sufficient: not. the number 5 to search out 
Of the celestial movers : or to know. 
If necessary- with contingent e'er 
Have made necessity : or whether that 
Be granted, that first motion 7 is : or if. 



- Tie brightness of the seal.} The brightness of the Divine 
idea before spoken of. 

> Therefore] Daniello, says Lombard!, has shown his sa- 
gacity in remarking that our Poet intends this for a brief 
: the Trinity: the primal v.: 
Lustrous image the S 

Holy Ghost, 
a The dag.] Adam. 

s Who ns&'dL] "He did not desire to know the nnmbd :d 

-,he celestial intelligences, or to pry into the subtleties of logi- 
,: 1. o ices : but asked tor 

Lhaf wisdom which might fit him for his kingly office.*' 
s The number.] This question is discussed by our Foci 
: If in the Convito. p. 49. 

- If necessary.] u If a premise necessarily true, witl 

not necessarily true, ever produced a necessary consequc 
a question resolved in the negative by the art or logic. with 
that general rule, conclusio sequitur deHtioien 
Lombardi. 

That first motion.] u Jfwe mist allow one firs! motion, 

which is not cause 21 motion, a question resohred 

affirmatively by metaphysics, according to that principle 

tepugnat in causis processus in infinitum.* 1 Lombardi. 



95-121. PARADISE, Canto XIII. 472 

Of the mid circle, 1 can by art be made 
Triangle, with its corner blunt or sharp. 

" Whence, noting that, which I have said, and thia 
Thou kingly prudence and that ken 2 mayst learn, 
At which the dart of my intention aims. 
And, marking clearly, that I told thee, ' Risen,' 
Thou shalt discern it only hath respect 
To kings, of whom are many, and the good 
Are rare. With this distinction take my words ; 
And they may well consist with that which thou 
Of the first human father dost believe, 
And of our weli-beleved. And let this 
Henceforth be lead unto thy feet, to make 
Thee slo iv in motion, as a weary man, 
Both to the ' yea' and to the * nay' thou seest not 
For he among the fools is down full low, 
Whose affirmation, or denial, 3 is 
Without distinction, in each case alike. 
Since it befalls, tliat in most instances 
Current opinion leans to false: and then 
Affection bends the judgment to her ply. 

" Much more than vainly doth he loose from shore, 
Since he returns not such as he set forth, 
Who fishes for the truth and wanteth skill. 
And open proofs of this unto the world 
Have been afforded in Parmenides, 
Melissus, Bryso, 4 and the crowd beside, 

1 Of tlic mid circle.] "If in the half of the circle a recti- 
linear triangle can be described, one side of which shall be 
the diameter of the same circle, without its forming a right 
angle with the other two sides ; which geometry shows to 
be impossible." Lombardi. 

2 That ken.] See Canto x. 110. 

3 Whose affirmation or denial.] 

Twv yap (ion 6eiv6repa uv rtg S/xoXcy^ceis, p.tj Ttpoc^dv 
ro7i prjuao-i tov vovv, fj roizoXv eWiepeda (pdvai te nai airap 
vtioQai. Plato. TheiEtetus., Ed. Bip., v. ii. p. 97. " For any 
one might make yet absurder concessions than these, not 
paying strict attention to terms, according to the way, in 
which w r e are for the most part accustomed both to affirm 
and to deny." 

4 Parmenides, 

Melissus, Bryso.] 

For the singular opinions entertained by the two former of 
these heathen philosophers, see Diogenes Laertius, lib. ix n 
and Aristot. de Coelo, lib. hi. cap. i., and Phys., lib. i. cap. ii 
The last is also twice adduced by Aristotle, (Anal. Post., lib.i 
cap. ix., and Rhet., lib. iii. cap. ii.,) as affording instances of 
false reasoning. Our Poet refers to the philosopher's refuta- 
tion of them in the De Monarchist, lib. iii. p. 338. See also 
Vlato n the Theaetetus, the Sophist, and the Parmenides. 



4li THE VISION. 1-22-133 

Who journeyM on, and knew not whither: so die* 
Sabellius, Aims, 1 and the other fools, 
Who, like to cimeters 2 reflected back 
The scripture-image by distortion marr'd. 

'•' Let not the people be too swift to judge \ 
As one who reckons on the blades in field, 
Or e'er the crop be ripe. For I have seen 
The thorn frown rudely all the winter long, 
And after bear the rose upon its top ; 
And bark, that all her w T ay across the sea 
Ran straight and speedy, perish at the last 
E'en in the haven's mouth. Seeing one steal, 
Another bring his offering to the priest, 
Let not 3 Dame Birth a and Sir Martin 4 thence 
Into heaven's counsels deem that they can pry; 
For one of these may rise, the other fall." 



CANTO XIV. 

ARGUMENT. 
Solomon, who is one of the spirits in the inner circle, cte- 
clares what the appearance of the blest will be after the 
resurrection of the body. Beatrice and Dante are trans- 
lated into the fifth heaven, which is that of Mars ; and 
here behold the souls of those, who had died fighting for 
the true faith, ranged in the sign of a cross, athwart which 
the spirits move to the sound of a melodious hymn. 

From centre to the circle, and so back 
From circle to the centre, water moves 
In the round chalice, even as the blow 
Impels it, inwardly, or from without. 
Such was the image 5 glanced into my mind, 
As the great spirit of Aquinum ceased ; 

i Sabellius, Arius.] Well-known heretics. 

2 Cimeters.} A passage in the travels of Bertradon de Ja 
Brocquiere, translated by Mr. Johnes, will explain this allu- 
sion, which has given some trouble to the commentators. 
That traveller, who wrote before Dante, informs us, p. 138, 
that the wandering Arabs used their cimeters as mirrors. 

3 Let not.] " Let not short-sighted mortals presume to de- 
cide on the future doom of any man. from a consideration of 
his present character and actions." This is meant as an 
answer to the doubts entertained respecting the salvation of 
Solomon. See Canto x. 107. 

4 Dame Birtha and Sir Martin.] Names put generally foi 
iny persons who have more curiosity than discretion. 

5 Such was the image.] The voice of Thomas Aquinas 
proceeding from the circle to the centre; and that of Bea- 
trice, from the centre to the circle 



7-45. PARADISE, Cax\to XIV. 475 

And Beatrice, after him, her words 

Resumed alternate : " Need there is (though yet 

He tells it to you not in words, nor e'en 

In thought) that he should fathom to its depth 

Another mystery. Tell him, if the light, fyou 

Wherewith your substance blooms, shall stay with 

Eternally, as now ; and, if it dcth, 

How, when 1 ye shall regain your visible forms, 

The sight may without harm endure the change, 

That also tell." As those, who in a ring 

Tread the light measure, in their fitful mirth 

Raise loud the voice, and spring with gladder bound; 

Thus, at the hearing of that pious suit, 

The saintly circles, in their tournaying 

And wondrous note, attested new delight. 

Whoso laments, that we must doff this garb 
Of frail mortality, thenceforth to live 
Immortally above ; he hath not seen 
The sweet refreshing of that heavenly shower. 2 

Him, 3 who lives ever, and for ever reigns 
In mystic union of the Three in One, 
Unbounded, bounding all, each spirit thrice 
Sang, with such melody, as, but to hear, 
For highest merit were an ample meed. 
And from the lesser orb the goodliest light, 4 
With gentle voice and mild, such as perhaps 
The angel's once to Mary, thus replied : 
" Long as the joy of Paradise shall last, 
Our love shall shine around that raiment, bright 
As fervent ; fervent as, in vision, blest ; 
And that as far, in blessedness, exceeding, 
As it hath grace, beyond its virtue, great. 
Our shape, regarmented with glorious weeds 
Of saintly flesh, must, being thus entire, 
Show yet more gracious. Therefore shall increase 
Whate'er, of light, gratuitous imparts 
The Supreme Good ; light, ministering aid, 
The better to disclose his glory ; whence, 
Th e vision needs increasing, must increase 

1 When.] When ye shall be again clothed with your bod- 
ies at the resurrection. 

2 That heavenly shower. .] That effusion of beatific light. 

3 Him.] Literally translated by Chaucer, Troilus and 
Cresseide, book v. 

Thou one, two, and three eterne on live, 
That raignest aie in three, two, and one, 
Uncircumscript, and all maist circonscrive. 
* ?y.e goodliest light.'] Solomon 



tfQ THE VISION. 4<HHi 

The fervor, which it kindles ; and that too 
The ray, that comes from it. But as the gleed 
Which gives out flame, yet in its whiteness shines 
More livelily than that, and so preserves 
Its proper semblance ; thus this circling sphere 
Of splendor shall to view less radiant seem, 
Than shall our fleshly robe, which yonder earth 
Now covers. Nor will such excess of light 
O'erpower us, in corporeal organs made 
Firm, and susceptible of all delight." 

So ready and so cordial an " Amen" 
Follow'd from either choir, as plainly spoke 
Desire of their dead bodies ; yet perchance 
Not for themselves, but for their kindred dear, 
Mothers and sires, and those whom best they loved, 
Ere they were made imperishable flame. 

And lo ! forthwith there rose up round about 
A lustre, over that already there ; 
Of equal clearness, like the brightening up 
Of the horizon. As at evening hour 
Of twilight, new appearances through heaven 
Peer with faint glimmer, doubtfully descried ; 
So, there, new substances, methought, began 
To rise in view beyond the other twain, 
And wheeling, sweep their ampler circuit wide. 

O genuine glitter of eternal Beam ! 
With what a sudden whiteness did it flow, 
O'erpowering vision in me. But so fair, 
So passing lovely, Beatrice show'd, 
Mind cannot follow it, nor words express 
Her infinite sweetness. Thence mine eyes regain' d 
Power to look up ; and I beheld myself, 
Sole with my lady, to more lofty bliss 1 
Translated : for the star, with warmer smile 
Impurpled, well denoted our ascent. [speaks 

With all the heart, and with that tongue which 
The same in all, an holocaust I made 
To God, befitting the new grace vouchsafed. 
And from my bosom had not yet upsteam'd 
The fuming of that incense, when I knew 
The rite accepted. With such mighty sheen 
And mantling crimson, in two listed rays 
The splendors shot before me, that I cried, 
{i God of Sabaoth ! that dost prank them thus l n 
As leads the galaxy from pole to pole, 

2 To more lofty bliss.] To the planet Mars 



9.-103. PARADISE, Cant; XIV. 477 

Distinguish'd into greater lights and less, 
Its pathway, 1 which the wisest fail to spell ; 
So thickly studded, in the depth of Mars, 
Those rays described the venerable sign, 2 
That quadrants in the round conjoining frame. 

Here memory mocks the toil of genius. Christ 
Beanvd on that cross ; and pattern fails me now 
But whoso takes his cross, and follows Christ, 
"W ill pardon me for that I leave untold, 
When in the flecker'd dawning he shall spy 
The glitterance of Christ. From horn to horn, 
And 'tween the summit and the base, did move 
Light? scintillating, as they met and pass'd. 
Thus oft are seen with ever-changeful glance, 
Straight or athwart, now rapid and now slow, 
The atomies of bodies, 3 long or short, 
To move along the sunbeam, whose slant line 
Checkers the shadow interposed by art 

1 Its pathway.] See the Convito, p. 74. "E da sapere, &c." 
•' It must be known, that, concerning the galaxy, philoso- 
phers have entertained different opinions. The Pythago- 
reans say that the sun once wandered out of his way; and 
passing through other parts not suited to his heat, scorched 
the place through which he passed ; and that there was left 
that appearance of the scorching. I think they grounded 
their opinion on the fable of Phaeton, which Ovid relates at 
the beginning of his Metamorphoses. Others (as Anaxa- 
goras and Democritus) said that it proceeded from a partial 
repurcussion of the solar light, which they proved by such 
reasons as they could bring to demonstrate it. What Aris- 
totle has said, cannot well be known; because his meaning 
is not made the same in one translation as in another : and 
I think it must have been an error in the translators; for, in 
the new, he seems to say that it is a collection of vapors 
under the stars, which they always attract in that part ; and 
this appears devoid of any true reason. In the old, he says 
that the galaxy is nothing else than a multitude of fixed 
stars in that part, so small, that here below we cannot dis- 
tinguish them ; but that they form the appearance of that 
wk-.teness, which we call the galaxy. And il may be, that 
the heaven in that part is dense, and therefore retains ana 
represents that light; and in this opinion Avicen and Pto- 
lemy seem to agree with Aristotle." M. Letror, ne's remarks 
on this passage of the Convito, inserted in M. \rtaud's Ilis- 
toire de Dante, (8°. Par. 1841, p. 157,) are worth consulting. 

2 The venerable sign.] The cross, which is placed in the 
planet of Mars, to denote the glory of those who fought iu 
the crusades. 

s The atomies of bodies.] 

As thick as motes in the sun-beame. 

Chaucer, Edit. 1003, foJ . 35 
As thick and numberless, 
As the gay motes that people the sunbeam. 

Jfilton, II Penseroso 



478 THE VISION. 109-131 

Agrainst t£6 noontide heat. And as the chime 
Of minstrel music, dulcimer, and harp 
With many strings, a pleasant dinning makes 
To him, who heareth not distinct the note ; 
So from the lights, which there appear'd to me, 
Gather'd along the cross a melody. 
That., indistinctly heard, with ravishment 
Possess'd me. Yet I mark'd it was a hyma 
Of lofty praises : for there came to me 
" Arise.'' and ''''Conquer/'* as to one who hears 
And comprehends not. Me such ecstasy 
O'ercame, that never, till that hour, was thing 
That held me in so sweet imprisonment. 
Perhaps my savins: overbold appears,. 
Accounting -ess the pleasure of those eyes. 
Wheveon to look fulfilleth all desire. 
But he, 1 who is aware those living seals 
Of even' beauty work with quicker force, 
The higher they are risen : and that there 
I had not tunvd me to them ; he may well 
Excuse me that, whereof in my excuse 
I do accuse me. and may own my truth ; 
That holy pleasure here not yet reveal'd, 3 
Which grows in transport as we mount aloof. 

CANTC XV. 

ARGUMENT. 

The spirit of Cacciaguida, our Poet's ancestor, glides rtipidly 
to the foot of the cross ; tells who he is ; and speaks of the 
simplicity of the Florentines in his days, since then much 
corrupted. 

True love, that ever shows itself as clear 
In kindness, as loose appetite in wrong, 

i He.] " He. who considers that the eyes of Beatrice be- 
came more radiant the higher we ascended, must not wonder 
that I do not except even them, as I had not yet beheld 
them since our entrance into this planet." Lombardi un 
demands, by "living seals." -mvi suggelli. ' '"the stars:" 
and this explanation derives some authority from the Latir. 
notes on the Monte Cassino MS. " id est cceli imprimentes nl 
sigilla." 

* ReveaPd.] Dischiuso. Lombardi explains this word " ex- 
cluded." as indeed Vellutello had done before him ; and as it 
is also used in the seventh Canto. If this interpretation w ere 
idopted, the line should stand thus : — 

That holy pleasure not excluded here. 
But the word is capable of either meaning ; and it would no* 
te easy to determine which is the right, iu this passage. 



3-3* PARADISE, Canto XV. 479 

Silenced that lyre harmonious, and still'd 
The sacred chords, that are by heaven's right hand 
Unwound and tighten'd. How to righteous prayers 
Should they not hearken, who, to give me will 
For praying, in accordance thus were mute ? 
He hath in sooth good cause for endless grief, 
Who, for the love of thing that lasteth not, 
Despoils himself for ever of that love. 

As oft along the still and pure serene, 
At nightfall, glides a sudden trail of fire, 
Attracting with involuntary heed 
The eye to follow it, erewhile at rest : 
And seems some star that shifted place in heaven, 1 
Only that, whence it kindles, none is lost, 
And it is soon extinct : thus from the horn, 
That on the dexter of the cross extends, 
Down to its foot, one luminary ran 
From mid the cluster shone there ; yet no gem 
Dropp'd from its foil : and through the beamy list, 
Like flame in alabaster, glow'd its course. 

So forward stretclvd him (if of credence aught 
Our greater muse 2 may claim) the pious ghost 
Of old Anchises, in the Elysian bower, 
When he perceived his son. " O thou, my blood ! 

most exceeding grace divine ! to whom, 

As now to thee, hath twice the heavenly gate 
Re^n e'er unclosed?" So spake the light: whence 1 
Turn'd me toward him ; then unto my dame 
My sight directed : and on either side 
Amazement waited me ; for in her eyes 
Was lighted such a smile, I thought that mine 
Had dived unto the bottom of my grace 
And of my bliss in Paradise. Forthwith, 
To hearing and to sight grateful alike, 
The spirit to his proem added things 

1 understood not, so profound he spake : 

1 And seems some star that shifted place in heaven.] 
Pare una Stella che tranmti loco. 

Frezzi, R Qi.adrir., lib. i. cap. 13 
Saepe etiam Stellas, vento impendente, videbis, 
Praecipites coelo labi, noctisque per umbram 
Flammarum longos a tergo albescere tractus. 

Virg-.y Georg., lib. i. '167. 
Compare Arat. Aiocrjfx. 194. 
* Our greater muse.] Virgil., iEn., lib. vi. 684. 

Isque ubi tendentem adversum per gramina vidit 
>Enean, alacris palmas utrasque tetendit. 
Venisti tandem, tuaque spectata parent! 
V icit iter durum pietas 1 



480 THE VISION. 3D-71 

Yet not of choice, but through necessity, 

Mysterious ; for his high conception soard 

Beyond the mark of mortals. When the flight 

Of holy transport had so spent its rage, 

That nearer to the level of our thought 

The speech descended ; the first sounds I heard 

Were, " Blest be thou, Triunal Deity ! 

That hast such favor in my seed vouchsafed." 

Then followed: "No unpleasant thirst, though long, 

Which took me reading in the sacred book, 

Whose leaves or white or dusk) 7 never change, 

Thou hast allay'd. my son ! within this light, [her. 

From whence my voice thou hear'st : more thanks to 

Who, for such lofty mounting, has with plumes 

Begirt thee. Thou dost deem thy thoughts to me 

From Him transmitted, who is first of all, 

E'en as all numbers ray from unity : 2 

&nd therefore dost not ask me who I am, 

Or why to thee more joyous I appear, 

Than an) 7 other in this gladsome throng. 

The truth is as thou deem'st ; for in this life 

Both less and greater in that mirror look, 

In which thy thoughts, or ere thou think'st, are shown. 

But, that the love, which keeps me wakeful ever, 

Urging with sacred thirst of sweet desire, 

May be contented fully ; let thy voice, 

Fearless, and frank, and jocund, utter forth 

Thy will distinctly, utter forth the wish, 

Whereto my ready answer stands decreed." 

I turn'd me to Beatrice ; and she heard 
Ere I had spoken, smiling an assent, 
That to my will gave wings ; and I began : 
" To each among your tribe, 3 what time ye kenn'd 



1 JVo unpleasant thirst, though long.] " Thou hast satisfied 
the long yet pleasing desire which I have felt to see thee, 
through my knowledge of thee, obtained in the immutable 
decrees of the divine Providence." 

2 Unity.] Yldvrojv apa to ev rpaJrov yiyovt ru>v apidfib* 
Ix&vtw- Pl at0 > Parmenides, Ed. Bip. vol. x. p. 130. Per- 
haps the mention of Parrnenides in the last Canto but one, 
suggested this thought to Dante, which he has expressed by 
specifying two particular numbers intended to stand for all. 
There is something similar to it in his treatise De Yulgari 
Eloquio., lib. i. c. xvi. Sicut in numero cunctamensurantui' 
uno, et plura vel pauciora dicuntur, secundum quod distant 
ab uno, vel ei propinquant. 

8 To each among your tribe.] "In you, glorified spirits, 
love and knowledge are made equal, because they are equal 
in God. But with us mortals it is otherwise, for we have 



72-101. PARADISE, Canto XV. 481 

The nature, in whom naught unequal dwells, 

Wisdom and love were in one measure dealt ; 

For that they are so equal in the sim, 

From whence ye drew your radiance and your heat, 

As makes all likeness scant. But will and means, 

In mortals, for the cause ye well discern, 

With unlike wings are fledge. A mortal, I 

Experience inequality like this ; 

And therefore give no thanks, but in the heart, 

For thy paternal greeting. This howe'er 

[ pray thee, living topaz ! that ingemm'st 

This precious jewel ; let me hear thy name." 

" I am thy root, 1 O leaf ! whom to expect 
Even, hath pleased me." Thus the prompt repl/ 
Prefacing, next it added: " He, of whom 2 
Thy kindred appellation comes, and who, 
These hundred years and more, on its first ledge 
Hath circuited the mountain, was my son, 
And thy great-grandsire. Well befits, his long 
Endurance should be shorten'd by thy deeds. 

" Florence, 3 within her ancient limit-mark, 
Which calls her still 4 to matin prayers and noon, 
Was chaste and sober, and abode in peace. 
She had no armlets and no head-tires then ; 
No purfled dames ; no zone, that caught the eye 
More than the person did. Time was not yet, 
When 5 at his daughter's birth the sire grew pale, 
For fear the age and dowry should exceed, 
On each side, just proportion. House was none 
Void 6 of its family : nor yet had come 

often the will without the means of expressing our affections; 
ami 1 can therefore thank thee culy in my heart." 

1 I am thy root.] Cacciaguida, father to Alighieri, of whom 
our Poet was the great-grandson. 

2 He, of whom.] " Thy great-grandfather, Alighieri, has 
been in the first round of Purgatory more than a hundred 
years ; and it is fit that thou by thy good deserts shouldst 
endeavor to shorten the time of his remaining there." For 
what is known of Alighieri, see Pelli. Memor. Opere di Dante, 
Ediz. Zatta. 1758, torn! iv. P. 2 d * p. 21. His son Bellincione 
was living in ]-266 ; and of him was horn the father of our 
Poet, whom Benvenuto da Imola calls a lawyer by profe* 
sion. Pelli, ibid. 

3 Florence.] See G. Villani, lib. iii cap. 2. 

4 TVhich calls her still.] The public clock Dcmg still within 
ihe circuit of the ancient walls. 

5 When.] When the women were not married at too ear'}/ 
.an age, and did not expect too large a portion. 

6 Void.] Through the civil wars and banishment?. Or he 
may mean that houses were not formerly built. ;nerely foi 

41 



482 THE VISION 1&-1U 

Sardanapa'us, 1 to exhibit feats 

Ofchaml - M::-.:r:naIo s yet 

O'er qui suburbs" turret 3 rose : as ranch 

To be sorpass'd in fall, as in its rising. 

I saw I sUmcion Berti 4 walk abroad 

In leathern girdle, and a clasp of bone : 

And, with no artful coloring on her cheeks, 

His lady leave the glass. The sons I saw 

Of Xerli. and of Vecchio, 5 well content 

With unrobed jerkin : and their good dames handling 

The spindle and the Has : O happy they . 

Each 6 sure of burial in her native land, 

And none left desolate a-bed for France, 

pomp and show, nor of greater size than was necessary for 
containing the families that inhabited tkem. For it has been 
understood in both these 

: Smrdeautpmhis.] The luxurious monarch of Assyria. Ju- 
venal is here imitated, who uses his name for an instance of 
effeminacy. Sat. x. 363 

: Mt\ -itciTialo.] Either an elevated spot between Borne and 
Viterbo : or Monte Mario, the site of the villa Meilini, com- 
manding a view of Rome. 

s Our suburban turret.] Uccellatojo, near Florence, from 
whence that city was discovered. Florence had not yet vied 
with Rome in the grandeur of her public buildings. 

* Bdlincwn Berti.] Hell, Canto xvi. 3S, and Notes. There 
is a curious description of the simple manner in wb*eh the 
earlier Florentines dressed themselves, in G. VillanL, lib. vi. 
c 71. " And observe that in the time of the said people, 
'A. D. 1259,) and before and for a long time after, the citizens 
of Florence lived soberly, on coarse viands, and at little cost, 
and in many customs and courtesies of life were rode and 
unpolished ; and dressed themselves and their women in 
coarse cloths; many wore plain leather, without cloth over 
it ; bonnets on their heads ; and all, boots on the feet : and 
the Florentine women were without ornament: the better 
sort content with a close gown of scarlet cloth of Ypres or 
of camlet, bound with a girdle in the ancient mode, and a 
mantle lined with fur, and a hood to it, which was worn on 
the head : the common sort of women were clad in a coarse 
gown of Cambrai in like manner. One hundred pounds (libbre) 
was the common portion for a wife : and two or three hun- 
dred was accounted a magnificent one ; and the young wo- 
men were for the most part twenty years old or more before 
they were given in marriage. Such was the dress ; and thus 
coarse were the manners of the Florentines ; but they 
of good faith and loj-al both among themselves and to the 
and with their coarse way of living and poverty, did 
greater and more virtu jus if els than have been done in oui 
times with greater refinement and wealth." 

5 Of Xcrli, and of Vecchio.'] Two of the most opulent fami 
lies in Florence. 

6 Each.] 4 * None fearful either of dying in banishment, of 
tit being deserted bv her husband on a scheme of traffic is 
^nce." 



115-140. PARADISE, Canto XVI. 483 

One waked to tend the cradle, hushing it 
With sounds that lull'd the parent's infancy ; 
Another, with her maidens, drawing off 
The tresses from the distaff, lectured them 
Old tales of Troy, and Fesole, and Rome. 
A Salterello and Cianghella 1 we 
Had held as strange a marvel, as ye would 
A Cincinnatus or Cornelia now. 

" In such composed and seemly fellowship, 
Such faithful and such fair equality, 
In so sweet household, Mary 2 at my birth 
BestowV me, call'd on with loud cries ; and there, 
In your old baptistery, I was made 
Christian at once and Cacciaguida; as were, 
My brethren Eliseo and Moronto. 

" From Valdipado 3 came to me my spouse ; 
And hence thy surname grew. I follow'd then 
The Emperor Conrad : 4 and his knighthood he 
Did gird on me ; in such good part he took 
My valiant service. After him I went 
To testify against that evil law, 
Whose people, 5 by the shepherd's fault, possess 
Your right usurp'd. There I by that foul crew 
Was disentangled from the treacherous world 
Whose base affection many a spirit soils ; 
And from the martyrdom came to this peace." 



CANTO XVI. 

ARGUMENT. 

Cacciaguida relates the time of his birth ; and, describing 
the extent of Florence when he lived there, recounts the 

1 A Salterello and Cianghella.} The latter a shameless wo- 
man of the family of Tosa, married to Lito degli Alidosi of 
Imola: the former Lapo Salterello, a lawyer, with whom 
Dante was at variance. "We should have held an aban- 
doned character, like these, as great a wonder, as ye would 
the contrary now." There is a sonnet by Lapo Salterello in 
Corbinelli's collection, printed with the Bella jMano. Ed. Fi- 
renze. 1715, p. 150. 

2 Jlarij.] The Virgin was invoked in the pains of child 
birth. Purgatory, Canto xx. 21. 

3 Valdipado.] Cacciaguida's wife, whose family name way 
Alighieri, came from Ferrara, called Val di Pado, from its be- 
ing watered by the Po. 

4 Conrad.] The Emperor Conrad III., who died in 1152. 
See G. Viliani, lib. iv. 34. 

5 Wlwse people.] The Mahometans, who were left in pos- 
session of the Holy Land, through the supiceness of the 
©ope. See Canto ix. 123. 



484 THE VIS ON. l-& 

names of the chief families who then inhabited it. Iti 
degeneracy, and subsequent disgrace, he attributes to the 
introduction of families from the neighboring country 
and viliages, and to their mixture with the primitive cit- 
zens 

O slight respect of man's nobility ! 
1 never shall account it marvellous, 
That our infirm affection here below 
Thou movest to boasting ; when I could not choose. 
E'en hi that region of unwarp'd desire, 
In heaven itself, but make my vaunt in thee. 
Yet cloak thou art soon shorten'd : for that Time, 
Unless thou be eked out from day to day, 
Goes round thee with his shears. Resuming then, 
With greeting 1 such as Rome was first to bear, 
But since hath disaccustom'd, I began : 
And Beatrice, 2 that a little space 
Was sever'd, smiled : reminding me of her. 
Whose cough embolden'd (as the story holds) 
To first offence the doubting Guenever. 3 

" You are my sire," said I : " you give me heart 
Freely to speak my thought : above myself 
You raise me. Through so many streams with joy 
My soul is filfd, that gladness wells from it ; 
So that it bears the mighty tide, and bursts not. 
Say then, my honor d stem ! what ancestors [mark'd 
Were those you sprang from, and what years were 
In your first childhood ? Tell me of the fold, 4 
That hath Saint John for guardian, what was then 
Its state, and who in it were highest seated !" 

As embers, at the breathing of the wind, 
Their flame enliven ; so that light I saw 
Shine at my blandishments ; and, as it grew 
More fair to look on, so with voice more sweet. 

i With greeting-.] The Poet, who had addressed the spirit, 
not knowing him to be his ancestor, with a plain M Thou," 
now uses more ceremony, and calls him " You," according 
to a custom introduced among the Romans in the latter times 
of the empire. 

a Beatrice.] • Lombardi observes, that in order to show us 
that his conversation with Cacciaguida had no connection 
with sacred subjects, Beatrice is described as standing at a 
little distance ; and her smiling at his formal address to his 
ancestor, makes him fall into a greater freedom of manner, 
gee the next Canto, v. 15. 

3 Guenever.] Beatrice's smile reminded him cf the female 
servant who, by her coughing, emboldened Queen Guenever 
to admit the freedoms of" Lancelot. See Hell, Canto v. 124. 

4 The fold.] Florence, of which John the Baptist was tha 
•ation saint. 



3<M5. PARADISE, Cahto XVI. 485 

Yet not in this our modern phrase, forthwith 
It answer'd: " From the day, 1 when it was said 
1 Hail, Virgin !' to the throes by which my mother, 
Who now is sainted, lightened her of me 
Whom she w r as heavy with, this fire had come 
Five hundred times and fourscore, to relume 
Its radiance underneath the burning foot 
Of its own lion. They, of whom I sprang, 
And I, had there our birthplace, where the last 3 
Partition of our city first is reach'd 
By him that runs ker annual game. Thus vmch 
Suffice of my forefathers : who they were, 
And whence they hither came, more honorable 
It is to pass in silence than to tell. 
All those, who at that time were there, betwixt 
3Iars 3 and the Baptist, fit to carry arms, 

1 From the day.] From the incarnation of our Lord to the 
birth of Cacciaguida, the planet Mars had returned five hun- 
dred and eighty times to the constellation of Leo, with which 
it is supposed to have a congenial influence. As Mars then 
completes his revolution in a period forty-three days short 
of two years, Cacciaguida was born about 1090. This is 
Lombard i's computation, and it squares well both with the 
old reading — 

cinquecento cinquanta 

E trenta fiate ; 

and with the time when Cacciaguida might have fallen fight- 
ing under Conrad III., who died in 1152. Not so the compu- 
tation made by the old commentators in general, who, reck- 
oning two years for the revolution of Mars, placed the birth 
of Cacciaguida in llbO; the impossibility of which being per- 
ceived by the Academicians della Crusca, (as it had before 
jeen by Pietro, the son of our Poet, or by the author of the 
commentary which passes for his,) they altered the word 
" trenta" into " tre," " thirty" into " three ;" and so, still 
reckoning the revolution of Mars at two years, brought Cac 
ciaguida's birth to 1106. The way in which Lombardi has 
got over the difficulty appears pre/erable, as it retains the old 
reading; and I have accordingly altered the translation 
which before stood thus : — 

this fire had come, 

Five hundred fifty times and thrice, its beams 
To re illumine underneath the foot 
Of its own lion. 

Since this note was written, Monti has given his assent t<2 
Tombardi's opinion. See his Froposta under the word "Rin- 
fiummare," t. iii. p te ii. 210. 

3 The last.] The city was divided into four compartments. 
The Elisei, the ancestors of Dante, resided near the entrance 
of that, named from the Porta S. Piero, which was the last 
reached by the competitor in the annual race at Florence. 
See G. Villani, lib. iv. cap. x. 

3 Mars.] The Padre $' Aquino understands this to refa* 



480 



THE VISION. 



40-6* 



Were but the fifth, of them this day alive. 
Bat then the citizen's blood, that now is mix'd 
From Campi and Certaldo and Fighine, 1 
Ran purely through the last mechanic's veins. 
O how much better were it, that these people 2 
Were neighbors to you ; and that at Galluzzo 
And at Trespiano ye should have your boundary % 
Than to have them within, and bear the stench 
Of Aguglione's hind, and Signa's, 3 him, 
That hath his eye already keen for bartering. 4 
Had not tli6 people, 5 which of all the world 
Degenerates most, been stepdame unto Csesar, 
But, as a mother to her son been kind, 
Such one, as hath become a Florentine, 
And trades and traffics, had been turn'd adrift 
To Simifonte, 6 where his grandsire plied 
The beggar's craft : the Conti were possess'd 
Of Montemurlo 7 still : the Cerchi still 
Were in Acone's parish : nor had haply 



to the population of Florence in Guido's time ; for, according 
to him, " tra Marte e'l Batista," means the space between 
the statue of Mars placed on the Ponte Vecchio and the Bap- 
tistery ; and Lombardi assents to this interpretation. Venturi 
supposes, that the portion of land so described would have 
been insufficient to hold the population which Florence con- 
tained at the supposed date of this poem, that is, in the year 
1300 ; and agrees with the elder commentators, who consider 
the description as relating to time and not to place, and as 
indicating the two periods of heathenism and Christianity 
See Canto xiii. 144. It would not be easy to determine the 
leal sense of a passage thus equivocal. 

1 Campi and Certaldo and Fighine.] Country places hear 
Florence. 

2 That these people.] " That the inhabitants of the above- 
mentioned places had not been mixed with the citizens ; nor 
the limits of Florence extended beyond Galluzzo and Tres 
piano." 

3 Jiguglione's hind, and Signa's.] Baldo of Aguglione, and 
Bonifazio of Signa. 

4 His eye already keen for bartering.] See Hell, Canto xxi. 
40, and note* 

5 Had not the people.] If Rome had continued in her allegi- 
ance to the emperor, and the Guelph and Ghibelline factions 
had thus been prevented; Florence wriuld not have been 
polluted by a race of upstarts, nor lost tho most respectable 
of her ancient families. 

fl Simifonte.] A castle dismantled by the Florentines. G 
Villani, lib. v. cap. xxx. The person here alluded to is no 
longer known. 

7 Montemurlo.] G. Villani, lib. v. cap. xxxi., relates thai 
the Conti Guidi, not being able to defend their castle fromth* 
Pistoians, sold it to the state of Florence. 



65-&1. PARADISE, Canto XV.. 487 

From Valdigrieve pass'd the BuondelmontL 

The city's malady hath ever source 

In the confusion of its persons, as 

The body's, in variety of food : 

And the blind bull 1 falls with a steeper plunge, 

Than the blind lamb : and oftentimes one sword 

Doth more and better execution, 

Than five. Mark Luni ; Urbisaglia 2 mark ; 

How they are gone ; and after them how go 

Chiusi and Sinigaglia : 3 and 'twill seem 

No longer new, or strange to thee, to hear 

That families fail, when cities have their end. 

All things that appertain to ye, like yourselves, 

Are mortal : but mortality in some 

Ye mark not ; they endure so long, and you 

Pass by so suddenly. And as the moon 4 

Doth, by the rolling of her heavenly sphere, 

Hide and reveal the strand unceasingly ; 

So fortune deals with Florence. Hence admire not 

At what of them I tell thee, whose renown 

Time covers, the first Florentines. I saw 

The Ughi, 5 Catilini, and Filippi, 

The Alberichi, Greci, and Ormanni, 

Now in their wane, illustrious citizens ; 

And great as ancient, of Sannella him, 

With him of Area saw, and Soldanieri, 

And Ardinghi, and Bostichi. At the poop 6 

1 The blind bull.] So Chaucer, Troilus and Cresseide, b. ii. 

For swifter course cometh thing that is of wight 
When it descendeth than done things light. 

Compare Aristotle, Ethic. j\'ic. lib. vi. cap. xiii. " awuan 

lcxvp&> <• t. A." 

2 Luni ; Urbisaglia. J Cities formerly of importance, but 
then fallen tu decay. 

3 Chiusi and Sinigaglia.] The same. 

4 As the moon.] "The fortune of us, that are the moon's 
men, doth ebb and flow like the sea." Shakspeare, 1 Henry 
IV., act i. sc. 2. 

5 The Ughi.] Whoever is curious to know the habita 
tions of these and the other ancient Florentines, may consult 
G. Villani, lib. iv. 

6 At the poop.] The Cerchi, Dante's enemies, had succeeded 
to the houses over the gate oT Saint Peter, formerly inhabited 
by the Ravignani and the Count Guido. G. Villani, lib. iv. 
cap. 10. Many editions read porta, " gate." — The same met- 
aphor is found in iEschylus, Supp., 356, and is there als€ 
scarce understood by the critics. 

Aidov (rv icpvpvav 7r6\eo$ w<5' lareppivnv. 
Respect these wraths, that crown your city's poop. 



488 THE VISION. 92-1 1« 

That now is laden with new felony 

So cumbrous it may speedily sink the bark., 

The Ravignani sat, of whom is sprung 

The County Guido, and whoso hath since 

His title from the famed Bellincion ta'en. 

Fair governance was yet an art well prized 

By him of Pressa : Galigaio show'd 

The gilded hilt and pommel, 1 in his house : 

The column, clothed with verrey, 2 still was seen 

Unshaken : the Sacchetti st.ll were great, 

Giouchi, Sifanti. Galli, and Barucci, 

With them 3 who blush to hear the bushel named. 

Of the Calfucci still the branchy trunk 

Was in its strength : and, to the curule chairs, 

Sizii and Arrigncci 4 yet were drawn. 

How mighty them 5 I saw, whom, since, their pride 

Hath undone ! And in all their goodly deeds 

Florence was, by the bullets of bright gold, 6 

O'erflourisird. Such the sires of those, 7 who now, 

As surely as your church is vacant, flock 

Into her consistory, and at leisure 

There stall them and grow fat. The o'erweening 

brood, 6 
That plays the dragon after him that flees, 
But unto such as turn and show the tooth, 
Ay or the purse, is gentle as a lamb, 

i The gilded hilt and pommel.] The symbols of knighthood 

2 The column, clothed with verrey.] The arms of the Pigli, 
or, as some write it, the Billi. 

3 With them.] Either the Chiaramontesi, or the Tosinghi; 
one of which had committed a fraud in measuring out the 
wheat from the public granary. See Purgatory, Canto xii. 99. 

4 Sizii and Arrigucci.] ''These families still obtained the 
magistracies." 

3 Them.] The Uberti; according to the Latin note on the 
Monte Cassino MS., with which "the editor of the extracts 
from those notes says that Benvenuto agrees. 

6 The bullets of bright gold.] The arms of the Abbati, as it 
is conjectured , or of the Lamberti, according to the authori 
ties referred to in the last note. 

7 The sires of those.] "Of the Yisdomini, the Tosinghi, and 
the Cortigiani. who, being sprung from the founders of the 
bishopric of Florence, are the curators of its revenues, which 
they do not spare, whenever it becomes vacant." 

8 The overweening bt ood.] The Adimari. This family was 
so little esteemed, that Ubertino Donato, who had married a 
daughter of Bellincion Berti, himself indeed derived from 
the same stock, (see Note to Hell, Canto xvi. 38,) was offend 
ed with his father-in-law for giving another of his daughter 
\n marriage to one of them. 



17-133. PARADISE, Canto XVI 489 

Was on its rise, but yet so slight esteem'd, 

That Ubertino of Donati grudged 

His father-in-law should yoke him to its tribe, 

Already Caponsacco 1 had descended 

Into the mart from Fesole : and Giuda 

And Infangato 2 were good citizens. 

A thing incredible I tell, though true : 3 

The gateway, 4 named from those of Pera, led 

Into the narrow circuit of your walls. 

Each one, who bears the sightly quarterings 

Of the great Baron 5 (he whose name and worth 

The festival of Thomas still revives) 

His knighthood and his privilege retain'd ; 

Albeit one, 6 who borders them with gold, 

This day is mingled with the common herd. 

In Borgo yet the Gualterotti dwelt, 

And Import uni : 7 well for its repose, 

1 Caponsacco.] The family of Caponsacchi, who had re- 
moved from Fesole, lived at Florence in the Mercato Vecchio 

2 Giuda 

And Infangato.] Giuda Guidi and the family of Infangati. 

3 A thing incredible 1 tell, though true.] 

Io dirb cosa incredibile e vera. 
'Eyco cot epia, t(pn, w SwKpare;, aviarov (xiv vq tov$ Oeoiig, 
d\ndh <5c. Plato, Theages., Bipont. Edit., torn. ii. p. 23. 

4 The gateway.] Landino refers this to the smallness of 
the city : Vellutello, with less probability, to the simplicity 
of the people in naming one of the gates after a private 
family. 

5 The great Baron.] The Marchese Ugo, who resided at 
Florence, as lieutenant of the Emperor Otho III., cave many 
of the chief families license to bear his arms. See G. Vil- 
lani, lib. iv. cap. 2, where the vision is related, in consequence 
of which he sold all his possessions in Germany, and founded 
seven abbeys; in one whereof, his memory was celebrated 
at Florence on St. Thomas's-day. " The marquis, when 
hunting, strayed away from his people, and wandering 
through a forest, came to a smithy, where he saw black and 
deformed men tormenting others with lire and hammers ; 
and, asking the meaning of this, he was told that they were 
condemned souls, who suffered this punishment, and that 
the soul of the Marquis Ugo was doomed to suffer the same, 
*f he did not repent. Struck with horror, he commended 
himself to the Virgin Mary; and soon after founded the 
seven religious houses." 

6 One.] Giano dell a Bella, belonging to one of the fami- 
lies thus distinguished, who no longer retained his place 
among the nobility, and had yet added to his arms a bordure 
pr. See Macchiavelli. 1st. Fior., lib. ii. p. 86. Ediz. Giolito. 

7 Gualterotti dwelt, 

And Importuni.] Two families in the compartment ol 
&e city called Borgo. 



490 THE VISION. 134-151 

Had it still lack d of newer neighborhood. 1 [spring 
The house, 2 from whence your tears have had theh 
Through the just anger, that hath murder'd ye 
And put a period to your gladsome days, 
Was honor'd ; it, and those consorted with it. 
O Buondelmonti ! what ill counselling 
Prevailed on thee to break the plighted bond? 
Many, who now are weeping, would rejoice, 
Had God to Ema 3 given thee, the first time 
Thou near our city earnest. But so was doom'd: 
Florence ! on that maim'd stone 4 which guards th« 
The victim, when thy peace departed, fell, [bridge, 

" With these and others like to them, I saw 
Florence in such assured tranquillity, 
She had no cause at which to grieve : with these 
Saw her so glorious and so just, that ne'er 
The lily 5 from the lance had hung reverse, 
Or through division been with vermeil dyed." 



CANTO XVII. 

ARGUMENT. 

Cacciaguida predicts to our Poet his exiie and the calamities 
he had to suffer; and, last]}*, exhorts him to write the 
present poem. 

Such as the youth, 6 who came to Clymene ; 
To certify himself of that reproach 
Which had been fasten'd on him, (he whose end 
Still makes the fathers chary to their sons,) 
E'en such was I ; nor unobserved was such 

1 Newer neighborhood.] Some understand this of the Bar- 
di ; and others, of the Buondelmonti. 

2 The house.] Of Amidei. See Notes to Canto xxviii. of 
Hell, 102. 

3 To Ema.] " It had been well for the city, if thy ancestcf 
had been drowned in the Ema, when he crossed that stream 
on his way from Montebuono to Florence." 

4 On that mainid stone ] See Hell, Canto xiii. 144. Near 
the remains of the statue of Mars, Buondelmonti was slain, 
as if he had been a victim to the god ; and Florence had not 
since known the blessing of peace. 

5 The lily.] " The arms of Florence had never hung re- 
versed on the spear of her enemies, in token of her defeat ; 
nor been changed from argent to gules ;" as they afterwards 
were, when the Guelfi gained the predominance. 

6 The youth.] Phaeton, who came to his mother Clymene, 
»o inquire of her if he were indeed the son of Apollo See 
Ovid Met. lib. i. ad finem. 



tf-35. PARADISE, Canto XVII. 401 

Of Beatrice, and that saintly lamp, 1 

Who had ere while for me his station moved ; 

When thus my lady: " Give thy wish free vent, 

That it may issue, bearing true report 

Of the mind's impress : not that aught thy words 

.May to our knowledge add, but to the end 

That thou mayst use thyself to own thy thirst, 2 

And men may mingle for thee when they hear." 

" O plant, from whence I spring ! revered and loved 
Who soar'st so high a pitch, that thou as clear, 3 
As earthly thought determines two obtuse 
In one triangle not contain'd, so clear 
Dost see contingencies, ere in themselves 
Existent, looking at the point 4 whereto 
All times are present ; I, the while I scaled 
With Virgil the soul-purifying mount 5 
And visited the nether world of wo, 
Touching my future destiny have heard 
Words grievous, though I feel me on all sides 
Well squared 7 to fortune's blows. Therefore my will 
Were satisfied to know the lot awaits me. 
The arrow, s seen beforehand, slacks his flight." 

So said I to the brightness, which erewhilo 
To me had spoken; and my will declared, 
As Beatrice will'd, explicitly. 
Xor with oracular response obscure, 
Such as, or e'er the Lamb of God was slain, 
Beguiled the credulous nations : but, in terms 
Precise, and unambiguous lore, replied 
The spirit of paternal love, enshrined, 

1 That saintly lamp.] Cacciaguida. 

2 To own thy thirst.] " That thou mayst obtain from oth- 
ers a solution of any doubt that may occur to thee." 

That thou as clear.] " Thou beholdest future events with 
the same clearness of evidence that we discern the simplest 
mathematical demonstrations." 
4 The point.] The divine nature. 

3 The soul-purifying mount.\ See Purg., Canto viii. 133, 
and Canto xi. 140. 

6 The nether world.] See Hell, Cento x. 77, and Canto xv. CI. 

i Well squared.] See Plato. Protagoras. Ed. Bipont. vol. iii. 
p. 145, and Aristot. Rhetor., lib. iii., where Pietro Vettori, in 
his Commentary, p. G56, remarks : " Quis nescit Dantem etiam 
suo in poemate tetragonum vocasse apposite hominem, qui 
adversis casibus non frangitur sed resistit fortiter ipsis ?" 

8 The arrow.] A line repeated by Ruccellai in his Ore.ite. 
Nam prsevisa minus loedere tela solent. Q . , 

Cfee piaga antiveduta assai men duole. 

Petrarca. Trionfo del Tempo 



499 THE MSION. ?6-5 

Yr: in his smile apparent ; and thus spake: 

n Contingency. 1 whose verge extendeth not 

Beyond the tablet of your mortal mould, 

Is all depictured in the eternal sight ; 

B : hence deriveth not necessity, 1 

More than the tall ship, hurried down the flood, 

Is driven by the eye that looks on it 

From thence, 3 as to the ear sweet harmony 

From organ comes, so comes before mine eye 

The time prepared for thee. Such as driven out 

From Athens, by his cruel stepjiame's 4 wiles, 

Hippolytus departed ; such must thou 

Depart from Florence, This they wish, and this 

Contrive, and will ere long eflectuate, there, 

Where gainful merchandise is made of Christ 

Throughout the livelong day. The common cry. 

Will, as : s ever wont, affix the blame 

Unto the party injured : but the truth 

Shall, in the vengeance it dispenseth. find 

A faithful witness. Thou shalt leave each thing 1 

Beloved most dearly : this is the first shaft 

Shot from the bow of exile. Thou shalt prove 

How sail the savor is of other's bread; 

How hard the passage, to descend and climb 

By others stairs. But that shall gall thee most, 

Will be the worthless and vile company, 

1 Contingency.] 

La contingenza, che fuor del quaderno 

1 had before understood this "Contingency, which is not ei 
posed to view on the tablet of your nature," ** which is not 
discoverable by your human understanding,," and had trans 
lated it accordingly ; but have now adopted LombardTs ex 
planation : *• Contingency, which has bo place beyond the 
limits of the material world." 

■ ^-:essitu.] u The evidence with which we ses tasua, 
events portrayed in the source of all truth, no more necessi- 
tates those events, than does the image, revested in the si»hl 
by a ship sailing down a stream, necessitate the motion of 
the vesseL" 

3 From thence.] " From the eternal sight ; the view of the 
Deity himself." 

* His cruel stcpdame.] Phaedra. 

5 There.] At Rome, where the expulsion of Dante's party 
ffom Florence was then plotting, in 1300. 

6 The common cry.} The multitude will, as usual, he ready 
to blame those who are sufferers, whose cause will at last be 
rindicated by the overthrow of their enemies. 

7 Thou ska t leave each thing.] Compare Enripid. Paten. 
399, &c 



62-92. PARADISE, Canto XVII. 493 

With whom thou must be thrown into these straits 
For all ungrateful, impious all, and mad, 
Shall turn 'gainst ihee : but in a little while, 
Theirs, 1 and not thine, shall be the crimson'd bro\* 
Their course shall so evince their bratishness, 
To have ta'en thy stand apart shall well become thee 

" First refuge thou must find, first place of rest, 
In the great Lombard's 2 courtesy, who bears, 
Upon the ladder perch'd, the sacred bird 
He shall behold thee w T ith such kind regard, 
That 'twixt ye two, the contrary to that 
Which 'falls 'twixt other men, the granting shall 
Forerun the asking. With him shalt thou see 
That mortal, 3 who was at his birth impress'd 
So strongly from this star, that of his deeds 
The nations shall take note. His unripe age 
Yet holds him from observance ; for these wheels 
Only nine years have coirpass'd him about. 
But, ere the Gascon 4 practise on great Harry, 5 
Sparkles of virtue shall shoot forth in him, 
In equal scorn 6 of labors and of gold. 
His bounty shall be spread abroad so widely, 
As not to let the tongues, e'en of his foes, 
Be idle in its praise. Look thou to him, 
And his beneficence : for he shall cause 
Reversal of their lot to many people ; 
Rich men and beggars interchanging fortunes. 
And thou shalt bear this written in thy soul, 
Of him, but tell it not :" and things he told 
Incredible to those who witness them ; 
Then added : "So interpret thou, my son, 

1 Theirs.] " They shall be ashamed of the part they have 
taken against thee." Lombardi, I think, is very unhappy in 
his conjecture, that rotta la tempia, a reading of the Nidobe- 
atina edition, should be adopted, and that it may mean " the 
broken heads of his companions.'' 

2 The great Lombard.] Either Bartolcmmeo della Scala ; or 
Alboino his brother, although our Poet has spoken ambigu- 
ously of him in his Convito, p. 179. Their coat of arms was 
a ladder and an eagle. For an account of the rise of this fam- 
ily from a very mean condition, see G. Villani, lib, xi. cap. 94. 

3 That mortal.] Can Grande della Scala, born under the 
influence of Mars, but at this time only nine years old. He 
was, as the other two, a son of Alberto della Scala. 

4 TJie Gascon.] Pope Clement V. See Hell, Ca.Mo xix. 8C, 
and Xote, and Par. Canto xxvii. 53, and Canto xxx. 141. 

5 Great Harry.] The Emperor Henry VII. See Canta 
xxx. 135. 

• In equal 8torn.\ See Hell, Canto i. 98. 
42 



*94 THE \ SIO.N 93-ir 

What hath been told thee. — Lo ! the ambushment 
That a few circling' seasons hide for thee. 
Yet envy not thy neighbors : time extends 
Thy span beyond their treason's chastisement.'' 

Soon as the saintly spirit, by silence, mark'd 
Completion of that web, which I had stretch'd 
Before it. warp'd for weaving; I beofan. 
As one. who in perplexity desires 
Counsel of other, wise, benign, and friendly : 
M My father ! well I mark how time spurs on 
Toward me, ready to inflict the blow. 
Which falls most heavily on him who most 
Abandoneth himself. Therefore 'tis good 
I should forecast, that, driven from the place 1 
Most dear to me, I may not lose myself 3 
All other by my song. Down through the world 
Of infinite mourning : and along the mrant, 
From whose fair height my lady's eyes did lift me ; 
And. after, through this heaven, from light to light 
Have I learn'd that, which if I tell again, 
It may with many wofully disrelish : 
And, if I am a timid friend to truth, 
I fear my life may perish among those. 
To whom these days shall be of ancient date." 

The brightness, where enclosed the treasure 9 
smiled, 
Which I had found there, first shone glistermgly, 
Like to a golden mirror in the sun : 
Next answer'd: " Conscience, dimm'd or by its own 
Or other's shame, will feel thy saying sharp. 
Thou, notwithstanding, all deceit removed, 
See the whole vision be made manifest. 
And let them wince, who have their withers wrung 
What though, when tasted first, thy voice shall prove 
Unwelcome : on digestion, it will turn 
To vital nourishment The cry thou raises:, 1 

1 The place.'] Our Poet here discovers both that Florence, 
much as he inveighs against it. was srill the dearest object 
of his affections, and that it was not without some scruple he 
indulged his satirical vein. 

2 / may not lose myself.] " That being driven ont of my 
country. I may not deprive myself of every other place by 
the boldness with which i expose, in my writings, the vices 
of mankind." 

3 The treasure.] Cacciasruida. 

4 The cry thou raisest.] "Thou shalt stigmatize the faults 
of those who are most eminent and powerful : for mei are 
naturally less moved by instances adduced from among those 
who are' in the lower classes of life." 



•id-135. PARADISE, Canto XVlll. 495 

Shall, as the wind doth, smite the proudest summits ; 
Which is of honor no light argument. 
For this, there only have been shown to thee, 
Throughout these orbs, the mountain, and the deep. 
Spirits, whom fame hath note of. For the mind 
Of him, who hears, is loth to acquiesce 
And fix its faith, unless the instance brought 
Be palpable, and proof apparent urge." 



CANTO XVIII 



ARGUMENT. 

Dante sets the souls of many renowned warriors tnd crusa- 
ders in the planet Mars ; and then ascends with Beatrice to 
Jupiter, the sixth heaven, in which he finds the souls of 
those who had administered justice rightly in the world, 
so disposed as to form the figure of an eagie. The Canto 
concludes with an invective against the avarice of the 
clergy, and especially of the pope. 

Now 1 in his word, sole, ruminating, joy'd 
That blessed spirit: and I fed on mine, 
Tempering the sweet with bitter. 2 She meanwhile, 
Who led me unto God, admonish'd: " Muse 
On other thoughts : bethink thee, that near Him 
I dwell, who recompenseth every wrong." 

At the sweet sounds of comfort straight I turn'd : 
And, in the saintly eyes what love was seen, 
I leave in silence here, nor through distrust 
Of my words only, but that to such bliss 
The mind remounts not without aid. Thus much 
Yet may I speak ; that, as I gazed on her, 
Affection found no room for other wish. 
While the everlasting pleasure, that did full 
On Beatrice shine, with second view 
From her fair countenance my gladden'd soul 
Contented ; vanquishing me with a beam 
Of her soft smile, she spake : " Turn thee, and list. 
These eyes are not thy only Paradise." 

As here, we sometimes in the looks may see 
The affection mark'd, when that its sway hath ta'ea 



1 Now.] The spirit of Cacciaguida enjoyed its own thought! 
to silence. 

2 Tempering the sweet with bitter.'] 

Chewing the cud of sweet and bitter fancy, 

Shateveare, As you Like it, act 3, seen* 3 



496 THE VISION. £MU 

The spirit wholly ; thus the hallow'd light, 1 

To whom I turn'd, flashing, bewray'd its will 

To talk yet further with me, and began : 

" On this fifth lodgment of the tree, 2 whose life 

Is from its top, whose fruit is ever fair 

And leaf unwithering, blessed spirits abide, 

That were below, ere they arrived in heaven, 

So mighty in renown, as every muse 

Might grace her triumph with them. On the horns 

Look, therefore, of the cross : he whom I name. 

Shall there enact, as doth in summer cloud 

Its nimble fire." Along the cross I saw, 

At the repeated name of Joshua, 

A splendor gliding ; nor, the word was said, 

Ere it was done : then, at the naming, saw, 

Of the great Maccabee, 3 another move 

With whirling speed ; and gladness was the scourges 

Unto that top. The next for Charlemain 4 

And for the peer Orlando, two my gaze 

Pursued, intently, as the eye pursues 

A falcon flying. Last, along the cross, 

William, and Renard, 5 and Duke Godfrey 6 drew 

1 The hallowed light.'] In which the spirit of Cacciaguida 
was enclosed. 

2 On this fifth lodgment of the tree.] Mars, the fifth of the 
heavens. 

3 The great Maccabee.] Judas Maccabeus. 

4 Charlemain.] L. Pulci commends Dante for placing 
Charlemain and Orlando here : — 

Io mi confido ancor molto qui a Dante, 
Che non sanza cagion nel ciel su misse 
Carlo ed Orlando in quelle croci sante, 
Che come diligente intese e scrisse. 

Morg. Magg., c. xxviii. 
3 William; and Renard.] Probably, not, as the commenta- 
tors have imagined, William II. of Orange, and his kinsman 
Raimbaud, two of the crusaders under Godfrey of Bouillon, 
(Maimbourg, Hist, des Croisades, ed. Par. 1682, 12mo. torn. i. 
p. 96,) but rather the two more celebrated heroes in the age 
of Charlemain. The former, William I. of Orange, supposed 
to have been the founder of the present illustrious family of 
that name, died about 808, according to Joseph de la Pise 
Tableau de l'Hist. des Princes et Principaute d' Orange. Our 
countryman, Ordericus Vitalis, professes to give his true life, 
which had been misrepresented in the songs of the itinerant 
bards, " V til go canitur a joculatoribus de illo cantilena ; sed 
jure praeferenda est relatio autentica." Eccl. Hist, in Du- 
chesne, Hist. Normann. Script., p. 598. The latter is better 
known by having been celebrated by Ariosto, under the name 
of Rinaldo. 
6 Duke Godfrey.] Godfrey of Bouillon. 

Poi venia solo il buon duce GofFrido, 
Che fe Pimpresa santa e i passi giusti; 



44-75. PARADISE, Canto XVIII. 497 

My ken, and Robert Guiscard. 1 And the soul, 
Who spake with me, among the other lights 
Did move away, and mix ; and with the quire 
Of heavenly songsters proved his tuneful skill. 

To Beatrice on my right I bent, 
Looking for intimation, or by word 
Or act, what next behooved ; and did descry 
Such mere effulgence in her eyes, such joy, 
It pass'd all former wont. And, as by sense 
Of new delight, the man, who perseveres 
In good deeds, doth perceive, from day to day, 
His virtue growing ; I e'en thus perceived, 
Of my ascent, together with the heaven, 
The circuit widen'd ; noting the increase 
Of beauty in that wonder. Like the change 
In a brief moment on some maiden's cheek, 
Which, from its fairness, doth discharge the weight 
Of pudency, that stain'd it ; such in her, 
And to mine eyes so sudden was the change, 
Through silvery 2 whiteness of that temperate star, 
Whose sixth orb now enfolded us. I saw, 
Within that Jovial cresset, the clear sparks 
Of love, that reign'd there, fashion to my view 
Our language. And as birds, from river banks 
Arisen, now in round, now lengthen'd troop, 
Array them in their flight, greeting, as seems, 
Their new-found pastures ; so, within the lights, 
The saintly creatures flying, sang ; and made 
Now D, now I, now L, figured i' the air. 
First singing to their notes they moved ; then, one 
Becoming of these signs, a little while 
Did rest them, and were mute. O nymph divine,* 

Questo, di ch' io mi sdegno e'ndarno grido, 
Fece in Hierusalem con le sue mani 
II mal guardato e gia negletto nido. 

Petrarca, Tr. della Fama, cap. ii. 

1 Robert Guiscard.] See Hell, Canto xxviii. 12. 

2 Through silvery.] So in the Convito, " E'l ciel di Giove," 
&c, p. 74. " The heaven of Jupiter may be compared to 
geometry, for two properties : the one is, that it moves be- 
tween two heavens repugnant to its temperature, as that of 
Mars and that of Saturn; whence Ptolemy, in the above- 
cited book, says that Jupiter is a star of "temperate com- 
plexion, between the coldness of Saturn and the heat of 
Mars : the other is, that, among all the stars, it shows itself 
»v*hite, as it were silvered." 

8 O nymph divine.] " O muse, thou that makest thy vota- 
ries glorious and long-li^ed, as they, assisted by thee, make 
glorious and long-lived the cities and realms which they cel- 
ebrate, now enlighten me," &c. 



498 THE VISION 70-113 

Of Pegasean race ! who souls, which thou 

Inspirest, makest glorious and long-lived, as tliey 

Cities and realms by thee ; thou with thyself 

Inform me ; that I may set forth the shapes, 

As fancy doth present them : be thy power 

Display'd in this brief song. The characters, 1 

Vocal and consonant, were fivefold seven. 

In order, each, as they appear'd, I mark'd. 

Diligite Justitiam, the first, 

Both verb and noun all blazon'd ; and the extreme, 

Qui judicatis terram In the M 

Of the fifth word they held their station ; 

Making the star seem silver streak'd with gold. 

And on the summit of the M, I saw 

Descending other lights, that rested there, 

Singing, methinks, their bliss and primal good. 

Then, as at shaking of a lighted brand, 

Sparkles innumerable on all sides 

Rise scatter'd, source of augury to the unwise ; a 

Thus more than thousand twinkling lustres hence 

Seem'd reascending ; and a higher pitch 

Some mounting, and some less, e'en as the sun, 

Which kindleth them, decreed. And when each one 

Had settled in his place ; the head and neck 

Then saw I of an eagle, livelily 

Graved in that streaky fire. Who painteth there, 3 

Hath none to guide Him : of Himself he guides : 

And every line and texture of the nest 

Doth own from Him the virtue fashions it. 

The other bright beatitude, 4 that seem'd 

Erewhile, with lilied crowning, well content 

To over-canopy the M, moved forth, 

Following gently the impress of the bird. 

Sweet star ! what glorious and thick-studded gems 
Declared to me our justice on the earth 
To be the effluence of that heaven, which thou, 
Thyself a costly jewel, dost inlay. 
Therefore I pray the Sovereign Mind, from whom 

i The characters.] Diligite justitiam qui judicatis terram. 
" Love righteousness, ye that be judges of the earth." Wis 
dom of Solomon, c. i. 1. 

2 The unwise.] Who augur future riches to themselves in 
proportion to the quantity of sparks that fly from the lighted 
brand when it is shaken. 

3 Wlio painteth there.] The Deity himself. 

4 Beatitude.] The band of spirits ; for ." beatit'ido" is hero 
% noun of multitude. 



14-132.. PARADISE, Canto XIX 499 

Thy motion and thy virtue are begun, 
That He would look from whence the fog doth riro, 
To vitiate thy beam ; so that once more 1 
He may put forth his hand 'gainst such, as drive 
Their traffic in that sanctuary, whose walls 
With miracles and martyrdoms were built. 
Ye host of heaven, whose glory I survey ! 

beg ye grace for those, that are, on earth, 
All after ill example gone astray. 

War once had for his instrument the sword : 

But now 'tis made, taking the bread away, 2 

Which the good Father locks from none. — And thou, 

That writest but to cancel, 3 think, that they, 

Who for the vineyard, which thou wastest, died, 

Peter and Paul, live yet, and mark thy doings. 

Thou hast good cause to cry, " My heart so cleaves 

To him, 4 that lived in solitude remote, 

And for a dance 5 was dragg'd to martyrdom, 

1 wist not of the fisherman nor Paul." 



CANTO XIX. 



ARGUMENT. 

The eagle speaks as with one voice proceeding from a multi- 
tude of spirits, that compose it ; and declares the cause for 
which it is exalted to that state of glory. It then solves a 
doubt, which our Poet had entertained, respecting the pos- 
sibility of salvation without belief in Christ; exposes the 
inefficacy of a mere profession of such belief; and prophe 
sies the evil appearance that many Christian potentates 
will make at the day of judgment. 

Bevore my sight appear'd, with open wings, 

1 Tftat once more." "That he may again drive out those 
who buy and sell in the temple." 

2 Taking the bread away.] "Excommunication, or interdic- 
tion cf the eucharist, is now employed as a weapon of war- 
fare." 

3 Thai writest but to cancel.] " And thou, Pope Boniface; 
who writest thy ecclesiastical censures for no other purpose 
than to be paid for revoking them." 

4 To him.\ The coin of Florence was stamped with the 
impression of John the Baptist ; and, for this, the avaricious 
pope is made to declare that he felt more devotion, than 
either for Peter or Pai.l. Lombardi, [ knetv not why, would 
apply this to Clement V. rather than to Boniface VIIL. 

5 And for a dance.\ I am indebted to an intelligent critic 
in the Monthly Review, 1823, for pointing out my former 
erroneous translation of the words " per salti " " From th 
HlJds." 



500 THE ^ [SIGN. a-3* 

The beauteous image : iu fruition sweet. 

Gladdening the tlironged spirits. Each did seem 

A littie ruby, whereon so intense 

The sunbeam glow'd. that to mine eyes it came 

In clear refraction. And that, which next 

Befalls me to portray, voice hath not utter" d. 

Xor hath ink written. 1 nor in fantasy 

Was e'er conceived. Foi I beheld and heard 

The beak discourse : and. what intention fornr'd 

Of many, singly as of one express.. 

Beginning : " For that I was just and piteous. 

I am exalted to this height of glory, 

The which no wish exceeds : and there on earth 

Have I my memory left, e'en by the bad 

Commended, while they leave its course untr: 

Thus is one heat from many embers felt : 
As in that imaofe many were the loves. 
And one the voice that issued from them all : 
Whence I address'd them : ••' O perennial flowers 
Of gladness everlasting ! that exhale 
In single breath your odors man;::'.:. : 
Breathe now : and let the hunger be appeased. 
That with great craving long hath held my soul. 
Finding no food on earth. This well I know : 
That if there be in heaven a realm, that shows 
In faithful mirror the celestial Justice. 
Yours without veil reflects it. Ye discern 
The heed, wherewith I do prepare myself 
To hearken : ye. the doubt, that urges me 
With such inveterate craving."'' Straight I saw. 
Like to a falcon' 2 issuing from the hood. 
That rears his head, and claps him with his wings, 
His beauty and his eagerness bewraying ; 

1 Jfor hath ink irritten-] 

This joie ne maie not written be with infce. 

Chaucer, Troiius and Cresseide. b. lift. 
a Like to a falcon. ] 

Come falcon ch' usclsse dal cappello. 

Boccaccio B FHastrate, p. v. st. 83 
fVhich Chaucer translates. 

As fresh as faucon coming out of mew. 

Troilus»and Cressride. b iii. 
Poi come fa '1 falcon, quando si move 
Cosi Umilta al cielo alzb la vista. 

Frez-.i. L Quadrir., lib. i*\ cap 5. 
Blnaldo sta comr snole i; falenrae 
Use i to del c-Gpe l;o a la veleta. 

L. PvUi. —i^., c. ZL 



3.5-68 PARADISE, Caotg XIX 30J 

So saw I move that stately sign, with praise 

Of grace divine inwoven, and high song 

Of inexpressive joy. " He," it began, 

'• Who turn'd his compass 1 on the worlds extreme, 

And in that space so variously hath wrought, 

Both openly and in secret ; in such wise 

Could not, through all the universe, display 

Impression of his glory, that the Word 2 

Oi his omniscience should not still remain 

In infinite excess. In proof whereof, 

He first through pride supplanted, who was sun? 

Of each created being, waited not 

For light celestial ; and abortive fell. 

Whence needs each lesser nature is but scant 

Receptacle unto that Good, which knows 

No limit, measured by itself alone. 

Therefore your sight, of the omnipresent Mind 

A single beam, its origin must own 

Surpassing far its utmost potency. 

The ken, your world is gifted with, descends 

In the everlasting Justice as low down, 

As eye doth in the sea ; which, though it mark 

The bottom from the shore, in the wide main 

Discerns it not ; and ne'ertheless it is ; 

But hidden through its deepness. Light is none, 

Save that which cometh from the pure serene 

Of ne'er disturbed ether : for the rest, 

'Tis darkness all ; or shadow of the flesh, 

Or else its poison. Here confess reveal'd 

That covert, which hath hidden from thy search 

The living justice, of the which thou madest 

Such frequent question ; for thou saidst — ; A man 

Is born on Indus' banks, and none is there 

Who speaks of Christ, nor who doth read nor write 

1 Who turnd his compass.] "When he prepared the hea 
vens, I was there : when he set a compass upon the face (rf 
Ihe depth." Proverbs, viii. 27. 

In his hand 

He took the golden compasses, prepared 
In God's eternal store, to circumscribe 
This universe, and all created things. 

Milton, P. L., D. vii. 227. 

2 The Word.] " The divine nature still remained incom 
prehensible. Of this Lucifer was a proof; for he, though 
the chief of all created beings, yet, through his pride, wait- 
ing not for further supplies of the divine illumination, fell 
without coming to maturity." Thus our author in the De 
Vnlgari Eloquio, speaking of the fallen angels, says^ " divi- 
aam curam perversi expectare noluerunt." K i. c. 2. 



502 THE VISION. 69-10C 

And all his inclinations and his acts, 
As far as human reason sees, are good 
And he offendeth not in word or deed : 
But unbaptized he dies, and void of faith. 
Where is the justice that condemns him ? where 
His blame, if he believeth not?' — What then, 
And who art thou, that on the stool wouldst sit 
To judge at distance of a thousand miles 
With the short-sighted vision of a span ? 
To him, 1 who subtilizes thus with me, 
There would assuredly be room for doubt 
Even to wonder, did not the safe word 
Of scripture hold supreme authority. 

" O animals of clay ! O spirits gross ! 
The primal will, 2 that in itself is good, 
Hath from itself, the chief Good, ne'er been moved. 
Justice consists in consonance with it, 
Derivable by no created good, 
Whose very cause depends upon its beam." 

As on her nest the stork, that turns about 
Unto her young, whom lately she hath fed, 
Whiles they with upward eyes do look on her ; 
So lifted I my gaze ; and, bending so, 
The ever-blessed image waved its wings, 
Laboring with such deep counsel. Wheeling round 
It warbled, and did say : " As are my notes 
To thee, who understand'st them not ; such is 
The eternal judgment unto mortal ken." 

Then still abiding in that ensign ranged, 
Wherewith the Romans overawed the world, 
Those burning splendors of the Holy Spirit 
Took up the strain ; and thus it spake again : 
" None ever hath ascended to this realm, 
Who hath not a believer been in Christ, 
Either before or after the bless'd limbs 
Were nail'd upon the wood. But lo ! of those 
Who call * Christ, Christ,' 3 there shall be many 

found, 
En judgment, further off from him by far, 

1 To him.] " He, who should argue, on the words I have 
just used, respecting the fate of those who have wanted 
means of knowing the Gospel, would certainly have cause 
enough to doubt, if he did not defer to the authority of scrip- 
ture, which pronounces God to be thoroughly just." 

2 The primal will.] The divine will. 

3 Who call ' Christ, Christ.'] "Not every one that saith 
unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of hea- 
ven." Matt vii. 21 



W-126. PARADISE Canto XIX. 503 

Than such to whom his name was neve known. 
Christians like these the iEthiop 1 shall condemn* 
When that the two assemblages shall part ; 
One rich eternally, the other poor. 

" What may the Persians say unto your kings, 
When they shall see that volume , a in the which 
All their dispraise is written, spread to view 1 
There amidst Albert's 3 works shall that be read. 
Which will give speedy motion to the pen, 
When Prague 4 shall mourn her desolated realm. 
There shall be read the wo, that he* doth work 
With his adulterate money on the Seine, 
Who by the tusk will perish : there be read 
The thirsting pride, that maketh fool alike 
The English and Scot, 6 impatient of their bound. 
There shall be seen the Spaniard's luxury ; 7 
The delicate living there of the Bohemian, 8 
Who still to worth has been a willing stranger. 
The halter of Jerusalem 9 shall see 
A unit for his virtue ; for his vices, 

1 The JEthiop.] " The men of Nineveh shall rise in judg- 
ment with this generation, and shall condemn it." .MatU 
xii 41. 

2 That volume.] " And I saw the dead, small and great, 
stand before God; and the books were opened: and another 
book was opened, which is the book of life : and the dead 
were judged out of those things which were written in the 
books, according to their works." Rev. xx. 12. 

3 Albert.] Purgatory, Canto vi. 98. 

4 Prague] The eagle predicts the devastation of Bohemia 
by Albert, which happened soon after this time, when that 
emperor obtained the kingdom for his eldest son Rodolph. 
See Coxe's House of Austria, 4to. ed. vol. i. part i. p. 87. 

s He.] Philip IV. of France, after the battle of Courtrai, 
1302, in which the French were defeated by the Flemings, 
raised the nominal value of the coin. This king died in con- 
sequence of his horse being thrown to the ground by a wild 
boar, in 1314. The circumstances of his death are minutely 
related by Fazio degli Uberti, Dittamondo, lib. iv. cap. 19. 

s The English and Scot.] He adverts to the disputes be- 
tween John Baliol and Edward I., the latter of whom is com- 
mended in the Purgatory, Canto vii. 130. 

" The Spaniard's luxury.] The commentators refer this to 
Alonzo X. of Spain. It seems probable that the allusion is 
to Ferdinand IV., who came to the crown in 1295, and died 
in 1312, at the age of twenty-four, in consequence, as it was 
supposed, of his extreme intemperance. See Mariana, Hist., 
lib. xv. cap. 11. 

8 The Bohemian.] Winceslaus II. Purgatory, Canto vii. 99. 

9 Tlit halter of Jerusalem.] Charles II. of Naples and Je- 
rusalem, who was lame. See Note to Purgatory, Canto vii 
192, and xx. 78. 



504 THE VISION. 127-141 

No less a mark than million. He, 1 who guards 

The isle of fire by old Anchises honor'd, 

Shall find his avarice there and cowardice ; 

And better to denote his littleness, 

The writing must be letters maim'd, that speak 

Much in a narrow space. All there shall know 

His uncle 2 and his brother's 3 filthy doings, 

Who so renown'd a nation and two crowns 

Have bastardized. 4 And they, of Portugal 5 

And Norway, 6 there shall be exposed, with him 

Of Ratza, 7 who hath counterfeited ill 

The coin of Venice. O blest Hungary ! 8 

If thou no longer patiently abidest 

Thy ill-entreating : and, O blest Navarre ! 9 [thee 

If with thy mountainous girdle 10 thou wouldst arm 

1 He.] Frederick of Sicily, son of Peter III. of Aragon. 
Purgatory, Canto vii. 117. The isle of fire is Sicily, where 
was the tomb of Anchises. 

2 His uncle.'] James, king of Majorca and Minorca, brother 
to Peter III. 

3 His brother.] James II. of Aragon, who died in 1327. 
See Purgatory, Canto vii. 117. 

4 Bastardized.] " Bozze," according to Bembo, is a pro- 
vencal word for " bastardo e non legitimo." Delia Volg. 
Lingua., lib. i. p. 25. Ediz. 1544. Others have understood it 
to mean, " one dishonored by his wife." 

5 Of Portugal.] In the time of Dante, Dionysius was king 
of Portugal. He died in 1325, after a reign of near forty-six 
years, and does not seem to have deserved the stigma here 
fastened on him. See Mariana, lib. xv. cap. 18. Perhaps 
the rebellious son of Dionysius may be alluded to. 

6 Norway.] Haquin, king of Norway, is probably meant , 
who, having given refuge to the murderers of Eric VII. king 
of Denmark, A. D. 1288, commenced a war against his suc- 
cessor, Eric VIII., " which continued for nine years, almost 
to the utter ruin and destruction of both kingdoms." Mod- 
ern Univ. Hist., vol. xxxii. p. 215. 

7 Him 

Of Ratza.] One of the dynasty of the house of Nemag- 
na, which ruled the kingdom of Rassia or Ratza, in Sclavr- 
nia, from 1161 to 1371, and whose history may be found in 
Mauro Orbino. Regno degli Slavi. Ediz. Pesaro. 1601. Ulad- 
islaus appears to have been the sovereign in Dante's time : 
but the disgraceful forgery, adverted to in the text, is not re- 
corded by the historian. 

8 Hungary.] The kingdom of Rdngary was about this 
time disputed by Carobert, son of Charles Martel, and VVin- 
ceslaus, prince of Bohemia, son of Winceslaus II. See Coxe's 
House of Austria, vol. i. part i. p. 86, 4to edit. 

9 Navarre.] Navarre was now under the yoke of France. 
It soon after (in 1328) followed the advice of Dante, and had 
f. monarch of its own. Mariana, lib. xv. cap. 19 

*• JXvuntainous girdle.] The Pyrenees. 



142-145. PARADISE, Canto XX. S05 

In earnest of that day, e'en now are heard 
Wailings and groans in Famagosta's streets 
And Nicosia's, 1 grudging at their beast, 
Who keepeth even footing with the rest." 4 



CANTO XX 



ARGUMENT. 
The eagle celebrates the praise of certain kings, whose glo 
rifled spirits form the eye of the bird. In the pupil is Da- 
vid ; and, in the circle round it, Trajan, Hezekiah, Con- 
stantine, William II. of Sicily, and Ripheus. It explains 
to our Poet, how the souls of those whom he supposed to 
have had no means of believing in Christ, came to be in 
heaven; and concludes with an admonition against pre- 
suming to fathom the counsels of God. 

When, disappearing from our hemisphere, 
The world's enlightener vanishes, and day 
On all sides wasteth ; suddenly the sky, 
Erewhile irradiate only with his beam, 
Is yet again unfolded, putting forth 
Innumerable lights wherein one shines. 3 
Of such vicissitude in heaven I thought ; 



1 Famagosta' s streets 

And Nicosia's.] Cities in the kingdom of Cyprus, at that 
time ruled by Henry II., a pusillanimous prince. Vertot., 
Hist, des Chev. de Malte, lib. iii. iv. The meaning appears to 
be, that the complaints made by those cities of their weak 
and worthless governor, may be regarded as an earnest of his 
condemnation at the last doom. 

2 The rest] "Wise Poet!" thus Landino concludes his 
commentary on this Canto ; " to whom the human race owes 
obligations for having thus severely reprehended the faults 
of princes ; since these are not, like the errors of private 
persons, harmful to one or a few only; but injure all the 
country which they govern ; and a single one frequently 
causes the ruin of whole nations." Much to the same effect 
is a memorable sentence of Xenophon's Agesilaus, that ex- 
cellent manual for princes. K al rug iJ-iv t&v IciutZv apap- 
riag irpdwg edepe, rug ci rwv dpx^vruv fieydXag j^yt, 
Kpivuv, rovg ply oXiya. rovg Ce iroAAa Kafcwg £tari6ivai° 
C. xi. 6. Compare also the opening of Demosthenes' second 
Speech against Aristogiton. 

3 Wherein one shines.] The light of the sun, whence h 
supposes the other celestial bodies to derive their light 
Thus, in the Convito, p. 115. " Nnllo sensibile, &c" '"No 
sensible object in the world is more worthy to be made an 
example of the deity, than the sun, which with sensible light 
enlightens first itself, and then all celestial and elementary 
toJIes." i3 



508 THE VISION. s-« 

As the great sign. 1 that marshalletk the world 
And the world*s leaders, in the blessed beak 
Was silent : for that all those living lights, 
Waxing in splendor, burst forth into songs, 
Such as from memory glide and fall away. 

Sweet Love, that dost apparel thee in smiles ! 
How lustrous was thy semblance in those spark. 
Which merely are from holy thoughts inspired. 

After 2 the precious and bright beaming stones. 
That did ingem the sixth light, ceased the i*hwning 
Of their angelic bells : methought I heard 
The murmuring of a river, that doth fall 
From rock to rock transpicuous, making kn 
The richness of his spring-head : and as sound 
Of cittern, at the fret-board, or of pipe, 
Is, at the wind-hole, modulate and tuned ; 
Thus up the neck, as it were hollow, rose 
That murmuring of the eagle ; and forthwith 
Voice there assumed ; and thence along the beak 
Issued in form of words, such as my heart 
Did look for, on whose tables I inscribed them. 

•• The part 5 in me, that sees and bears the sun 
In mortal eagles/' it began, '•'must now 
Be noted steadfastly : for, of the fires, 
That figure me, those, glittering in mine eye, 
Are chief of all the greatest. This, that shines 
Midmost for pupil, was the same who 4 sang 
The Holy Spirit's song, and bare about 
The ark from town to town : now doth he know 
The merit of his soul-impassion'd strains 
By their well-fitted guerdon. Of the five, 

it make the circle of the vision, he, 5 
Who to the beak is nearest, comforted 
The widow for her son : now doth he know, 
How dear it costeth not to follow Christ : 
Both from experience of this pleasant life, 
And of its opposite. He next, 6 who follows 
In the circumference, for the over-arch, 
By true repenting slack'd the pace of death : 

1 The great sign.] The eagle, the Imperial e::~ 
- After.] •• Afrer the spirits in the sixth plane 

had ceased their singing." 
3 The part.] Lombard! well observes, that the head of Ihf 

eagle is seen in profile, so that one eye only appears. 

* fVko.) David. 

& He.] Trajan. See Purgatory, Canto s. 68, 

* Nt next.] Ilezekiah 



47-73 PARADISE, Caxvo XX. 507 

Now knoweth he, that the decrees of heaven 1 

Alter not, when, through pious prayer below, 

To-day is made to-morrow's destiny. 

The other following, 2 with the laws and me, 

To yield the shepherd room, pass'd o'er 3 to Gree .e ; 

From good intent, producing evil fruit : 

Now knoweth he, how all the ill, derived 

From his well doing, deth not harm him aught ; 

Though it have broughl destruction on the world. 

That, which thou seest m the under bow, 

Was William, 4 whom that land bewails, which weeps 

For Charles and Frederick living: now he knows, 

How well is loved in heaven the righteous Xing ; 

Which he betokens by his radiant seeming. 

Who, in the erring world beneath, would deem 

That Trojan Ripheus, 5 in this round, was set, 

Fifth of the saintly splendors ? now he knows 

.Enough of that, which the world cannot see ; 

The grace dnyne : albeit e'en his sight 

Reach not its utmost depth." Like to the lark, 

That warbling in the air expatiates long, 

Then, trilling out his last sweet melody, 

Drops, satiate with the sweetness ; such appear'd 

That image, stamp'd by the everlasting pleasure, 

Which fashions, as they are, all things that be. 

I, though my doubting were as manifest, 
As is through glass 6 the hue that mantles it, 

1 The decrees of heaven.'] The eternal counsels of God are 
indeed immutable, though they appear to us men to be altered 
by the prayers of the piou^. 

2 The other full owing.] Constnntine. There is no passage, 
in which Dante's opinion of the evil that had arisen from the 
mixture of the civil with the ecclesiastical power, is more 
unequivocally declared. 

3 Pass'd o'er.} " Left the Roman state to the Pope, and 
transferred the sent of the empire to Constantinople." 

4 TVilliam.) William II. king of Sicily, at the latter part 
of the twelfth century. He was of the Norman line of 
sovereigns, and obtained the appellation of "the Good;" 
s.nd, as the Poet says, his loss was as much the subject of 
regret in his dominions, as the presence of Charles II. of An 
jou, and Frederick of Aragon, was of sorrow and complaint. 

5 Trojan Ripheus.) 

Ripheus justissimus unus 
Qui fnit in Teucris, et servantissimus sequi. 

Virg* JEn., lib. ii. 427. 
Then Ripheus fell, the justest *kr of all 
The sons of Troy. Pitt. 

* Through glass.] This is the only allusion I have re- 
marked in our author to the art of painting glass. Tirabo- 
Clti traces that invention in Italy as far back as to the end ot 



508 THLYISIu>\ 74-103 

In 5:'.tIC' ; -'ii.ed no: ; :":: to :ny lips 

"What things aif these? 1 involuntary nisi d, 

Ane :':: :e:. :-. i^i.-f ; 



rff'STL. S! "U . 



iings, 



r_". ::he:'s rin.rue :eT T e. :ne:h. Ft. 
And hveer -pi. ~:h vn.-ce essed 
The h:n_-d:n: :: :ne he -evens, n: :"^:;::::r 
Tne ~ih :: :he Mc-s: H^de : n : in such s-:rt 



Be. 
Th: 



Ca 
Tn 



- st, 



This. 

The;. 
One . 
VT- ^ 



Stor. della Lett. Ital.. torn. iii. lib. iiL 
owever. if we may trust Mr. Wartot**:* 
i been a sort of mosaic io glass. For tt 
vrhat we now call the art rf 
t writer observes, "was a verr c.ifert'i' 



TL~-ii.\ :> " H :'♦::-; :.~ £ s - .':>": F :-::--. v.: 
la the following passage from the Dittaii 
iegli Uberu, lib. v. cap. 3. the allusion is to m 
E pensa s* ai vedoto e posto cxira, 
Claando il mosaico con vetri dipinti 
A:::r.ir : . :."i: ' - ': :r. '.-. n-. : o:\iri 
E q nei che son piu riccamente tinti 
NeHe | hi nobil parti gli son sempre,, 
EI t .'...- 7. ;: - r :..r.-. _-._ piu r.m:i 



; 7"..:- ;.:---: e:s ::" =:. Qui 



04-140. PARADISE, Canto XX . $0? 

And put power into them to bend His will 

The glorious Spirit, of whom I speak to thee, 

A little while returning to the flesh, 

Believed in him, who had the means to help ; 

And, in believing, nourish' d such a flame 

Of holy love, that at the second death 

He was made sharer in our gamesome mirth 

The other, through the riches of that grace, 

Which from so deep a fountain doth distil, 

As never eye created saw its rising, 

Placed all his love below on just and right: 

Wherefore, of grace, God oped in him the eye 

To the redemption of mankind to come ; 

Wherein believing, he endured no more 

The filth of Paganism, and for their ways 

Rebuked the stubborn nations. The three nymphs, 

Whom at the right wheel thou beheld'st advancing, 

Were sponsors for him, more than thousand years 

Before baptizing. O how far removed, 

Predestination ! is thy root from such 

As see not the First Cause entire : and ye, 

O mortal men ! be wary how ye jud^e : 

For we, who see our Maker, know not yet 

The number of the chosen ; and esteem 

Such scantiness of knowledge our delight : 

For all our good is, in that primal good, 

Concentrate ; and God's will and ours are one." 

So, by that form divine, was given to me 
Sweet medicine to clear and strengthen sight 
And, as one handling skilfully the harp, 
Attendant on some skilful songsters voice 
Bids the chord vibrate ; and therein the sdhg 
Acquires more pleasure : so the whilst it spake, 
It doth remember me, that I beheld 
The pair of blessed luminaries move, 
Like the accordant twinkling of two eyes, 
Their beamy circlets, dancing to tho sounds. 

CANTO XXI 

ARGUMENT. 
Dante ascends with Beatrice to tie sever th heaven, whl'sfl 

is the planet Saturn; wherein is placed a ladder, so lo.iy 

1 TJie three nymphs.} Faith, Hope, and Charity. Purgatr 
iy. Canto xxix. 116. 
' * The pair ] Ripheus and Trajan. 



510 THE VISION j-8* 

that the top ;f it is out of his sight. Here are ine souls oi 
those who had passed their life in holy retirement and eon 
templation. PieroDamiano comes near them, and answers 
questions put to him by Dante ; then declares who he was 
on earth ; and ends by declaiming against the luxury of pas 
tors and prelates in those times. 

Again mine eyes were fix'd on Beatrice ; 
And, with mine eyes, my soul that in her looks 
Found all contentment. Yet no smile she wore : 
And, " Did I smile," quoth she, " thou wouldst bo 
Like Semele when into ashes turn'd : [straight 

For, mounting these eternal palace-stairs, 
My beauty, which the loftier it climbs, 
As thou hast noted, still doth kindle more, 
So shines, that, were no tempering interposed, 
Thy mortal puissance would from its rays 
Shrink, as the leaf doth from the thunderbolt. 
Into the seventh splendor 1 are we wafted, 
That, underneath the burning lion's breast, 2 , 
Beams, in this hour, commingled with his might. 
Thy mind be with thine eyes ; and, in them, mirror' a 3 
The shape, which in this mirror shall be shown." 

Whoso can deem, how fondly I had fed 
My sight upon her blissful countenance, 
May know, when to new thoughts I changed, what 
To do the bidding of my heavenly guide ; [joy 

In equal balance, 4 poising either weight. 

Within the crystal, which records the name 
(As its remoter circle girds the world) 
Of that loved monarch, 5 in whose happy reign 
No ill had power to harm, I saw rear'd up, 
In color li]ve to san-illumined gold, 
A ladder, which my ken pursued in vain, 
So lofty was the summit ; down whose steps 
I saw the splendors in such multitude 
Descending, every light in heaven, methought, 
Was shed thence. As the rooks, at dawn of day, 
Bestirring them to dry their feathers chill, 

1 Tfie seventh splendor.} The planet Saturn. 

2 The burning lion s breast.] The constellation Leo* 

3 In them, mirror' d.] " Let the form which thou shalt now 
behold in this mirror," the planet, that is, of Saturn, (sooa 
after, v 22, called the Crystal,) " be reflected in the mirror of 
thy sight." 

4 In equal balance? " My pleasure was as great in comply- 
>ng with her will, as in beholding her countenance.'' 

5 Of that loved monarch.] Saturn Compare He! 1 Canto 
dv. 91. 



33-72 PARADISE, Canto XXI. 511 

Some speed their way a-field ; and homewaid some 
Returning, csoss their flight ; while some abide, 
And wheel around their airy lodge : so seem'd 
That glitteranee, 1 wafted on alternate wing, 
As upon certain stair it came, and clash'd 
Its shining. And one, lingering near us, wax'd 
So bright, that in my thought I said , " The love* 
Which this betokens me, admits no doubt." 

Unwillingly from question I refrain ; 
To her, by whom my silence and my speech 
Are order'd, looking for a sign : whence she, 
Who in the sight of Him, that seeth all, 
Saw wherefore I was silent, prompted me 
To indulge the fervent wish ; and I began : 
" I am not worthy, of my own desert, 
That thou shouldst answer me : but for her sake, 
Who hath vouchsafed my asking, spirit blest, 
That in thy joy art shrouded ! say the cause, 
Which bringeth thee so near : and wherefore, say 
Doth the sweet symphony of Paradise 
Keep silence here, pervading with such sounds 
Of rapt devotion every lower sphere ?" 
" Mortal art thou in hearing, as in sight ;" 
Was the reply : " and what forbade the smile 2 
Of Beatrice interrupts our song. 
Only to yield thee gladness of my voice, 
And of the light. that vests me, I thus fur 
Descend these hallow'd steps : not that more love 
Invites me ; for, lo ! there aloft, 3 as much 
Or more of love is witness'd in those flames : 
But such my lot by charity assign'd, 
That makes us ready servants, as thou seest, 
To execute the counsel of the Highest." 

" That in this court," said I, " O sacred lamp ! 
Love no compulsion needs, but follows free 
The eternal Providence, I well discern : 
This harder find to deem ; why, of thy peers, 
Thou only, to this office wert foredoom'd." 

I had not ended, when, like rapid mill, 
Upon its centre whirFd the light ; and then 

i That glitteranee.'] Q.uello sfavillar. That multitude of 
shining spirits, who, coming to a certain point of the ladder 
made those different movements, which he has described a 
made by the birds. 

2 What forbade the smile.] " Because it would have over- 
come thee." 

8 There aloft.] Where the other souls were. 



512 THE VISION. 73-J08 

The love that did inhabit there, replied : 

»' Splendor eternal, piercing through these folds, 

Its virtue to my vision knits ; and thus 

Supported, lifts me so above myself, 

That on the sovereign essence, which it wells from, 

I have the power to gaze : and hence the joy 

Wherewith I sparkle, equalling with my bfaze 

The keenness of my sight. But not the soul, 1 

That is in heaven most lustrous, nor the seraph, 

That hath his eyes most fiVd on God, shall solve 

What thou hast ask'd : for in the abyss it Jies 

Of th' everlasting statute sunk so low, 

That no created ken may fathom it. 

And, to the mortal world, when thou return's!;, 

Be this reported : that none henceforth dare 

Direct his footsteps to so dread a bourn. 

The mind, that here is radiant, on the earth 

Is wrapt in mist. Look then if she may do 

Below, what passeth her ability 

When she is ta'en to heaven." By words like th^ese 

Admonish'd, I the question urged no more ; 

And of the spirit humbly sued alone 

To instruct me of its state. " 'Twixt either shore 2 

Of Italy, nor distant from thy land, 

A stony ridge 3 ariseth ; in such sort, 

The thunder doth not lift his voice so high. 

They call it Catria : 4 at whose foot, a cell 

Is sacred to the lonely Eremite ; 

For worship set apart and holy rites." 

A third time thus it spake ; then added : " Thera 

So firmly to God's service I adhered, 

That with no costlier viands than the juice 

Of olives, easily I pass'd the heats 

Of summer and the winter frosts ; content 

In heavenward musings. Rich were the returns 

And fertile, which that cloister once was used 



1 Not the soul.] The particular ends of Providence being 
concealed from the very angels themselves. 

2 ' Twixt either shore.] Between the Adriatic gulf and the 
Mediterranean sea. 

s A stony ridge.] A part of the Apennine. Gibbo is literal- 
ly a "hunch." Thus Archilochus calls the island of Thasus, 
(ivov pdxtS. & ee Gateford's Poetse Minores Grceci, t. i p. 298 

4 Catria.] Now the abbey of Santa Croce, in the duchy of 
Urbino, about half way between Gubbio and La Pergola. 
Here Dante is said to have resided for some time. See the 
Life prefixed. 



109-124 PARADISE, Canto XXI. 513 

To render to these heavens : now 'tis fallen 

Into a waste so empty, that ere long 

Detection must lay bare its vanity. 

Pietro Damiano 1 there was I yclept : 

Pietro the sinner, when before I dwelt, 

Beside the Adriatic, 2 in the house 

Of our blest Lady. Near upon my close 

Of mortal life, through much importuning 

I was constraint to wear the hat, 3 that still 

From bad to worse is shifted. — Cephas 4 came r 

He came, who was the Holy Spirit's vessel ; B 

Barefoot and lean ; eating their bread, as chanced. 

At the first table. Modern Shepherds need 

Those who on either hand may prop and lead them. 

So burly are they grown ; and from behind, 

Others to hoist them. Down the palfrey's sides 

1 Pietro Damiano.] " S. Pietro Damiano obtained a great 
and well-merited reputation, by the pains he took to correct 
the abuses among the clenry. Ravenna is supposed to have 
been the place of his birth, about 1007. He was employed 
in several important missions, and rewarded by Stephen IX 
with the dignity of cardinal, and the bishopric of Ostia, to 
which, however, he preferred his former retreat in the monas 
tery of Fonte Avellana, and prevailed on Alexander II. to 
permit him to retire thither. Yet he did not long continue 
in this seclusion, before he was sent on other embassies. He 
died at Faenza in 107*2. His letters throw much light on the 
obscure history of these times. Besides them, he has left 
several treatises on sacred and ecclesiastical subjects. His 
eloquence is worthy of a better age." Tiraboschi, Storia 
della Lett. Ital., torn. iii. lib. iv. cap. ii. He is mentioned by 
Petrarch de Vita Solit., lib. ii. $ iii. cap. xvii. " Siquidem 
statum ilium, pompasque sa?culi suis contribulibus linquens, 
ipse Italiae medio, ad sinistrum Apennini latus, quietissimam 
solitudinem, de qua multa conscripsit. et qua? vetus adhuc 
fontis Avellana? nomen servat, perituris honoribus preferen- 
dam duxit, ubi non minus gloricse postmodum latuit quam 
innotuerat primum Roma?, nee dedecori ill! fait alti verticis 
rutilum decus squalenti cilicio permutasse." Petrarchct 
Opera. Br.sil. J571, p. 266. 

2 Besidt the Adriatic] Some editions and manuscripts 
have '-ft," instead of " fui." According to the former of 
these readings, S. Pietro Damiano is made to distinguish 
himself from S. Piefo degli Onesti, surnamed "II Peccator," 
founder of the monastery of S. Maria del Porto, on the Adri- 
atic coast, near Ravenna, who died 1119, at about eighty years 
of age. If it could be ascertained that there was no religious 
house dedicated to the blessed Virgin, before that founded by 
Pietro degli Onesti, to which the other Pietro might have be- 
longed, this reading would, no doubt, be preferable ; but at 
present it seems very uncertain which is the right. 

3 The hat] The cardinal's hat. 

4 Cephas ' St. Peter. 

s The Holy Spirit' s vessel.] St. Paul. See Hell, Cantc ii. 3Q 



514 THE VISION 2G-13<> 

Spread their broad mantles, so as both the beasts 
Are cover'd with one skin. O patience ! thou 
That look'st on this, and dost endure so long." 

I at those accents saw the splendors down 
From step to step alight, and wheel, and wax, 
Each circuiting, more beautiful. Round this 1 
They came, and stay'd them ; utter'd then a shout 
So loud, it hath no likeness here : nor I 
Wist what it spake, so deafening w as the thunder. 

CANTO XXII 

ARGUMENT. 

He beholds many other spirits of the devout and contempla- 
tive ; and among these is addressed by Saint Benedict, 
who, after disclosing his own name and the names of cer- 
tain of his companions in bliss, replies to the request made 
by our Poet that he might look on the form of the saint, 
without that covering of splendor, which then invested it ; 
and then proceeds, lastly, to inveigh against the corruption 
of the monks. Next Dante mounts with his heavenly con- 
ductress to the eighth heaven, or that of the fixed stars, 
which he enters at the constellation of the Twins ; and 
thence looking back, reviews all the space he has passed 
between his present station and the earth. 

Astounded, to the guardian of my steps 
I turn'd me, like the child, who always runs 
Thither for succor, where he trusteth most : 
And she was like the mother, 2 who her son 
Beholding pale and breathless, with her voice 
Sooths him, and he is cheer'd ; for thus she spake, 
Soothing me : " Know'st not thou, thou art in heaven ? 
And know'st not thou, whatever is in heaven, 
Is holy ; and that nothing there is done, 
But is done zealously and well? Deem now, 
What change in thee the song, and what ray smile 
Had wrought, since thus the shout had power to 

move thee ; 
In which, couldst thou have understood their prayers, 
The vengeance 3 were already known to thee, 
Which thou must witness ere thy mortal hour. 

1 Round this.] Round the spirit of Pietro Damiano. 
8 Like the mother.'] 

Come la madre, che '1 fighuol ascolta 
uietro a se pi^ngner, si volge, ed aspetta, 
Poi il prende per mano e da la volta. 

Fazio degli Uberii, Dittamondo, lib. iii. cap. 21 

3 The vengeance.] Beatrice, it is supposed, intimates the 

upproaching fate of Boniface VIII. See Purgatory, Canto 

XJL 86. 



16-38. PARADISE, Canto XXII. 515 

The sword of heaven is not in haste to smite, 
Nor yet doth linger ; save unto his seeming, 
Who, in desire or fear, doth look for it. 
But elsewhere now I bid thee turn thy view ; 
So shalt thou many a famous spirit behold." 

Mine eyes directing, as she will'd, I saw 
A hundred little spheres, that fairer grew 
By interchange of splendor. I remained, 
As one, who fearful of o'ermuch presuming, 
Abates in him the keenness of desire, 
Nor dares to question; when, amid those pearls, 
One largest and most lustrous onward drew, 
That it might yield contentment to my wish ; 
And, from within it, these the sounds I heard. 

" If thou, like me, beheld'st the charity 
That burns among us ; what thy mind conceives, 
Were utter'd. But that, ere the lofty bound 
Thou reach, expectance may not weary thee ; 
I will make answer even to the thought, 
Which thou hast such respect of. In old days, 
That mountain, at whose side Cassino 1 rests, 
Was, on its height, frequented by a race 2 
Deceived and ill-disposed : and I it was, 3 

1 Casshio.] A castle in the Terra di Lavoro. "The learned 
Benedictine, D. Angelo della Noce, in his notes on the chron- 
icle of the monastery of Cassino, (Not. cxi.) corrects the 
error of Cluverius and Eftenus, who describe Cassino as situ- 
ated in the same place where the monastery now is ; at the 
same time commending the veracity of our author in this 
passage, which places Cassino on the side of the mountain, 
and points out the monastery founded by Saint Benedict on 
its summit." Lombardi. 

2 Frequented by a race.] Lombardi here cites an apposite 
passage from the writings of Pope Saint Gregory. " Mons 
tria millia," &c. Dialog., lib. ii. cap. 8. M The mountain, 
rising for tne space of three miles, stretches its top towards 
the sky. where was a very ancient temple, in which, after 
the manner of the old heathens, Apollo was worshipped by 
the foolish rustics. On every side, groves had sprung up in 
honor of the false gods ; and in these, the mad multitude of 
anbelievers still tended on their unhallowed sacrifices. There 
then the man of God (Saint Benedict) arriving, beat in pieces 
:he idols; overturned the altai ; cut down the groves; and, 
in the very temple of Apollo, built the shrine of Saint Mar- 
tin, placing that of Saint John where the altar of Apollo had 
stood ; and, by his continual preaching, called the multitude 
that dwelt round about to the true faith." 

3 I it was.] " A new order of monks, which in a manner 
absorbed all the others that were established in the west, wag 
instituted, A. D. 5*29, by Benedict of Nursia, a man of piety 
and reputation for the age he lived in." JUaclaine's Moskeim 
Eccles, Hist., vol. ii. cent. vi. p. -2, C. 2, § G. 



516 THE VISION. 3& T3 

Who thither canied first the name of Him, 
Who brought the soul-subliming truth to man. 
And such a speeding grace shone over me, 
That from their impious -worship I reclaim'd 
The dwellers round about, who with the world 
Were in delusion lost. These other flames, 
The spirits of men contemplative, were all 
Enliven'd by that warmth, whose kindly force 
Gives birth to flowers and fruits of holiness. 
Here is Macarius ;* Romoaldo 2 here ; 
And here my brethren, who their steps refrain'd 
Within the cloisters, and held firm their heart." 

I answering thus: "Thy gentle words and kind* 
And this the cheerful semblance I behold, 
Not unobservant, beaming in ye all, 
Have raised assurance in me ; wakening it 
Full-blossom'd in my bosom, as a rose 
Before the sun, when the consummate flower 
Ha^ spread to utmost amplitude. Of thee 
Therefore entreat I, father, to declare 
If I may gain such favor, as to gaze 
Upon thine image by no covering veil'd." 

" Brother !" he thus rejoin'd, " in the last sphere 8 
Expect completion of thy lofty aim : 
For there on each desire completion waits, 
And there on mine ; where every aim is found 
Perfect, entire, and for fulfilment ripe. 
There all tilings are as they have ever been : 
For space is none to bound ; nor pole divides. 
Our ladder reaches even to that clime ; 
And so, at giddy distance, mocks thy view. 
Thither the patriarch Jacob 4 saw it stretch 



1 ^Macarius.] There are two of this name enumerated by 
Mosheim among the Greek theologians of the fourth century, 
vol. i. cent. iv. p. 11, chap. 2, § 9. In the following chapter, 
§ 10, it is said, " Macarius, an Egyptian monk, undoubtedly 
deserves the first rank among the practical writers of this 
time, as his works displayed, some few things excepted, the 
brightest and most lovely portraiture of sanctity and virtue.*' 

2 Romoaldo.] S. Romoalio, a native of Ravenna, and the 
founder of the order of Carnal doli, died in 1027. He was the 
author of a commentary on the Psalms. 

3 In the last sphere.] The Empyrean, where he afterwards 
sees Saint Benedict. Canto xxxii. 30. Beatified spirits, though 
they have different heavens allotted them, have all their seat 
in that higher sphere. 

4 The patriarch Jacob.] " And he dreamed, and behold, 
\ ladder set upon the earth, and the top of it reached Xo 



n-lio. PARADISE, Canto XXII. 517 

Its topmost round ; when it appear'd to him 

With angels laden But to mount it now 

None lifts his foot from earth : and hence my rule 

Is left a profitless stain upon the leaves ; 

The walls, for abbey rear'd, turn'd into dens ; 

The cowls, to sacks choked up with musty meal. 

Foul usury doth not more lift itself 

Against God's pleasure, than that fruit, which maftCfi 

The hearts of monks so wanton : for whate'er 

Is in the church's keeping, all pertains 

To such, as sue for heaven's sweet sake ; and not 

To those, who in respect of kindred claim, 

Or on more vile allowance. Mortal flesh 

Is grown so dainty, good beginnings last not 

From the oak's birth unto the acorn's setting. 

His convent Peter founded without gold 

Or silver ; I, with prayers and fasting, mine ; 

And Francis, his in meek humility. 

And if thou note the point, whence each proceeds, 

Then look what it hath err'd to ; thou shalt find 

The white grown murky. Jordan was turn'd buck 

And a less wonder, than the refluent sea, 

May, at God's pleasure, work amendment here;' 

So saying, to his assembly back he drew : 
And they together cluster'd into one ; 
Then all roll'd upward, like an eddying wind. 

The sweet dame beckon'd me to follow them 
And, by that influence only, so prevail'd 
Over my nature, that no natural motion, 
Ascending or descending here below, 
Had, as I mounted, with my pennon vied. 

So, reader, as my hope is to return 
Unto the holy triumph, for the which 
I oft-times wail my sins, and smite my breast ; 
Thou hadst been longer drawing out and thrusting 
Thy finger in the fire, than I was, ere 
The sign, 1 that followeth Taurus, I beheld, 
And enter'd its precinct. O glorious stars ! 
O light impregnate with exceeding virtue ! 
To whom whate'er of genius lifteth me 



heaven : and behold the angels of God ascending and descend 
ing on it." Gen. xxviii. 12. So Milton, P. L., b. iii. 510 
The stairs were such, as whereon Jacob saw 
Angels ascending and descending, bands 
Of guardians bright. 
' The sifrn.] The constellation of Gemini 

44: 



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.41-150. PARADISE, Canto XXIII. 5IG 

Tove's tempering 'twixt his sire and son ;* and hence 
Their changes and their various aspects, 
Distinctly scann'd. Nor might I not descry 
Of all the seven, how bulky each, how swift ; 
Nor, of their several distances, not learn. 
This petty area (o'er the which we stride 
So fiercely) as along the eternal Twins 
I wound my way, appear'd before me all, 
Forth from the havens stretclrd unto the hills. 
Then, to the beauteous eyes, mine eyes returu'd. 



CANTO XXIII 

ARGUMENT. 

He sees Christ triumphing with his church. The Savioui 
ascends, followed by his virgin Mother. The others re- 
main with Saint Peter. 

E'en as the bird, who midst the leafy bower 
Has, in her nest, sat darkling through the night, 
With her sweet brood ; impatient to descry 
Their wished looks, and to bring home their fcod, 
In the fond quest unconscious of her toil : 
She, of the time prevenient, on the spray, 
That overhangs their couch, with wakeful gaze 
Expects the sun ; nor ever, till the dawn, 
Removeth from the east her eager ken : 
So stood the dame erect, and bent her glance 
Wistfully on that region, 2 where the sun 
Abateth most his speed ; that, seeing her 
Suspense and wondering, I became as one, 
In whom desiro is waken'd, and the hope 
Of somewhat new to come fills with delight. 

Short space ensued ; I was not held, I say, 
Long in expectance, when I saw the heaven 
Wax more and more resplendent ; and " Beho'id," 
Cried Beatrice, " the triumphal hosts 
Of Christ, and all the harvest gather'd in, 
Made ripe by these revolving spheres." Meseem'd, 
That, while she spake, her image all did burn ; 
And in her eyes such fulness was of joy, 
As I am fain to pass unconstrued by. 

1 Twixt his sire and son.] Betwixt Saturn and Mars. 

2 That region.] Towards the south, where the course of 
the sun appears less rapid than when he is in the east or the 
west. 






5-20 the vis: s-c 

As in the calm foil moon, wher Trivia 1 s:v. 
In peerless beauty. r niid the eternal nymphs.* 
That paint through all its gulfs the blue profound ; 
In bright pre-eniinez:T bo saw I there 
O'er million lamps i sv.i.. from whom all drew 
Their radiance, as from ours the starry train : 
And. through the living light, so lustrous glow'd 
The substance, that my ken endured it not. 

Beatrice ! sweet and precious guide, 
Who cheer'd me with her comfortable w:: 

u Against the virtue, that : eif vweveth thee,. 

Avails not to resist H?re is the lf% 

And here the Wisdom, which did open la 

The path, that had been yearned for so lew : 

I etwixt the heaven and earth.' 5 Like to the fire, 

That, in a cloud imprison'd. doth break out 

Expansive, so that from its womb enlarged, 

If falleth against nature to the ground; 

Thus, in that heavenly banqueting, my soul 

Outgrew herself; and, in the transport lost, 

Holds now remembrance none of whs 

•• Ope thou thine syes, and mark me : thou hasl 
Things, that empower thee to sustain my smile." 

1 — :.s is one. when a forgotten dream* 
Doth come across him, and he strives in vain 

1 Trivia.'} A name of Diana. 
: He eternal nymphs. .] The s 

- r 5ai %'vp.tpai 

"--;. mn ci opovaiag. 

Eurip. Supp.. 995. Edit. Banes 
Those starry nymphs, which dance about the pole. 
Drummond, Sonnet. 
Musgrare and Herman would dismiss the word viv$at, 
u nymphs." from this passage in Euripides : but the use of it 
by our author in the text, tends to 7 re t fa the srenTt- 

;:-.ding; and it is thus that poets of the most distant 
ases. and without any knowledge of each othr. 
for we can scarcely imagine Dante to have read the plays 
of Euripides.' may often protect one inofhe 
critics. Drami [be eve lean : enough to be 

r [ either : :" fa ; ; . ; .: ns some 

similar, in Theocritus as observed bv 

Mark^nd. 
3 The Might] Our Saviour. 
* A forgotten dream.'} 

You might :. ; 

Hunt half a day I : n dream. 

■'■ - "." Tr ---- 



50-85. PARADISE, Caxto XXIII. 521 

To shape it in his fantasy again : 

When as that gracious boon was proffer" d me, 

Which never may be canceled from the book 

Wherein the past is written. Now were all 

Those tongues to sound, that have, on sweetest milk 

Of Polyhymnia and her sisters, fed 

And fatten'd ; not with all their help to boot, 

Unto the thousandth parcel of the truth, 

My song might shadow forth that saintly smile, 

How merely, in her saintly looks, it wrought. 

And, with such figuring of Paradise, 

The sacred itrain must leap, like one that meets 

A sudden interruption to his road. 

But he, who thinks how ponderous the theme, 

And that 'tis laid upon a mortal shoulder, 

May pardon, if it tremble with the burden. 

The track, our venturous keel must furrow, brooks 

No i nribb'd pinnace, no self-sparing pilot. 

•• Why doth my face," said Beatrice, " thus 
Enamor thee, as that thou dost not turn 
Unto the beautiful garden, blossoming 
Beneath the rays of Christ? Here is the rose, 1 
Wherein the Word Divine was made incarnate ; 
And here the lilies, 2 by whose odor known 
The way of life was follow'd.'*' Prompt I heard 
Her bidding, and encountered once again 
The strife of aching vision. As, erewhile, 
Through glance of sun-light, streamed through bro- 
ken cloud, 
Mine eyes a flower-besprinkled mead have seen ; 
Though veil'd themselves in shade : so saw I there 
Legions of splendors, on whom burning rays 
Shed lightnings from above ; yet saw I not 
The fountain whence they flow"d. O gracious virtue ! 
Thou, whose broad stamp is on them, higher up 
Thou didst exalt thy glory, 3 to give room 
To my o'erlabord sight ; when at the name 



- The rose.] The Virgin Mary, who, says Lombard!, is 
termed by the church, Rosa Myst'ica. " I was exalted like a 
palm-tree in Engaddi, and as a rose-plant in Jericho." Ec 
clcsiasticus, xxiv. 14. 

2 The lilies.] The Apostles " And give ye a sweet savor 
ns frankincense, and flourish as a lily."" Ecclesiasticus, 
xxxix. 14. 

a Thou didst exalt thy glory.] The divine light retired up- 
ward; to render the eyes of Dante more capable of enduring 
the spectacle whi< h now presented itself. 



622 THE VISION 86- 2* 

Of that fair flower. 1 whom duly I invoke 

Both rnorn and eve, my soul with ail her might 

Collected, on the goodliest ardor fix/d. 
And, as the bright dimensions of the star 
In heaven excelling, as once here on earth, 

: . in my eye -balls livelily portra; 
Lo! from within the bb£ fell, " 

Circling in fashion of a diadem : 
And girt the star : and. hovering, round it wheeFA 

Whatever melody sounds sweetest here, 
And draws the spirit most unto itself. 
Might seem a rent cloud, when it grates the thunder 
Compared unto the sounding of that '/ 
Wherewith the goodliest sappL: : 
The floor of heaven, was crown'd. •• Angd : Love 
I am. who thus with hovering fligh: 
The lofty rapture from that womb inspired, 
Where our desire did dwell : and round thee so, 
Lady of Heaven ! will hover : long as thou 
Thy Son shalt follow, and divine 
Shall from thy presence gild the highest sphere" 

Such close was to the circling melody : 
And, as it ended, all the other lights 
Took up the strain, and echoed Mary's name. 

The robe, 5 that with its regal folds enwraps 
The world, and with the nearer breath of God 
Doth burn and quiver, held so far retired 
Its inner hem and skirting over us, 
That yet no glimmer of its ma; e 
Had stream" d unto me : therefore were mine eyes 
Unequal to pursue the crowned flame, 6 
That towering rose, and sought the seed 7 it bore. 
And like to babe, that stretches forth its arms 
For very eagerness toward the bre i ; 
After the milk is taken : so otr i 
Their wavy summits all the fervent band, 
Through zealous love to Man": then, in vi 



The name 



Of that fair flower.] The name of the V] _ . :. 
2 jfl cresset.] The angel Gabriel. 
s Tliat lyre.] By synecdoche, the lyre Is put for the angel 

4 The goodliest sapphire.] The Virgin. 

5 The robe.] The ninth heaven, the planum J 
enfolds and moves the eight lower heavens. 

fi The croirned flame.] The Virgin, with the i 
| \b* over her. 

7 The seed.] Our Saviour. 



123-134. PARADISE, Canto XXI v 523 

There halted ; and " Regina Cceli" 1 sang 
So sweetly, the delight hath left me ne^er. 
Oh ! what o'erflowing plenty is up-piled 
In those rich-laden coffers, 2 which below 
Sow'd the good seed, whose harvest now they kee]> 
Here are the treasures tasted, that with tears 
Were in the Babylonian exile 3 won, 
When gold had fail'd them. Here, in synod high 
Of ancient council with the new convened, 
Under the Son of Mary and of God, 
Victorious he 4 his mighty triumph holds, 
To whom the keys of glory were assign'd. 



CANTO XXIV. 

V 

ARGUMENT. 

Saint Peter examines Dante touching Faith, and is contented 

with his answers. 

"O ye! in chosen fellowship advanced 
To the great supper of the blessed Lamb, 
Whereon who feeds hath every wish fulfiU'd ; 
If to this man through God's grace be vouchsafed 
Foretaste of that, which from your table falls, 
Or ever death his fated term prescribe ; 
Be ye not heedless of his urgent will : 
But may some influence of your sacred dews 
Sprinkle him. Of the fount ye alway drink, 
Whence flows what most he craves." Beatrice spake ; 
And the rejoicing spirits, like to spheres 
On firm-set poles revolving, trail'd a blaze 
Of comet splendor : and as wheels, that wind 
Their circles in the horologe, so work 
The stated rounds, that to the observant eye 
The first seems still, and as it flew, the last ; 
E'en thus their carols 5 weaving variously, 

1 Regina Ccsli.] " The beginning of an anthem, sung by 
the church at Easter, in honor of our Lady." Volpi. 

2 Those rich-laden coffers.] Those spirits, who, having 
gown the seed of good works on earth, now contain the fruit 
of their pious endeavors. 

3 In the Babylonian ^xile.] During their abode in this 
world. 

4 He.] St. Peter, with the other holy men of the Old and 
New Testament. 

6 Their carols.] Carole. The annotator on the Monte Cas- 
lino MS. observes, " Carolae dicuntur tripiulium quoddam 



524 IHEYKKKNT. IM, 

They, by the measure paced, or swift, or slow, 
Made me to rate the riches 1 of their joy. 

F:::zi :„i".. : •"::.. :zz I Li r.::i .:. znz.vr :r. ;,;■; 

ExC-rl'-Jir- ^" I -SS'Ur fir!- 1 f.lZZ.Zl 

.S: i:.^:.:. is i ::.i "i.s a:: ZT: r^i'v .. i;- 
R:zir.i £tiz:.:t :Lr::e :: ~:t:.'; -V::, 
With so divine a song, that fancy's ear 

Rt:::is :: n:: : i:.i zzzi :•:: riss-.:i: :n. 
A.r.i !t:-':5 i z.irJs: : :':: :_i: ::..: rzz:::i^ s::t::, 
2 N :•: v'riz :_.r z:i"'i.:i s!:i:.:.j ::' :he :riir.. 
Hi:'_: : : ::= zzzzr ezLC-r:. •- :::.:- si:::z ::".•:..= : 

" si::.:!v s.s:r: zzz.zz . :^_~" r-riv^-: :.v";.:.: 
Is •:-:•.::.; s: rii--: if, ::.:.:.':: -. 
Thou dost unbind me from that beauteous sphere," 

Sue:: ~z:z ±z i::vi.:s :;- i;^ :r.v ^iv ::;i::zz: 



dmhi use attaches to it 

;:.f >:. ..: ::' C~: rzzs : ....... - 

t : ; .:. -z*. z : : _. '-. A : ... t 
; i A.-.z-zz. : z. .z :. . *f 

■ " " ••: .r? :•: .._: .z :-: :z 
ie reieree qa'il Tint la. J 

r: ■..-. ; i-:^'i -z: r~ . : . ; 
It '1 zz:y zzz. s'rzz .:: .■_: 
: z. .-. :. ■: > -'l : ; zl: t t :. : . : a 
Vi.: --"'.. 



::' ~ ':. :"zz I ;z_. 7; zz 5 : 



A'.z i.r .•:-;: zz i:i :':.-.: ':. :'::.: 
G.i ::«.h _..z-z-:z.. z.~z ..;;-.: 
> : . ::' . • ... : : .;: : ". 

:.:.-.- 5.. .;. ": :/ i>: I.:/; I .'.: I-VC :';". I]2 
I saw her dannce so comely, 

Cz::. :::.: *:r.z ; " s z-:.-z!r, 

:.:.:.- 7.: I -:•; .: :■'£'.;•: .7 ::;! ,.:'•.:.;/■/. :':■'. -XI 

- T,i - : '.:; ; !■::. z_z:z. zz-z:z rzzzzA ~.z:. z'zze Nz: zezzizz z 

-:-z.z. ::. : -...•. :.:z.tZzz zz.zzz: : : zz..z. .-_: : 1. z- z.:zz.. '" z.~f 

c.:zzs:r:z-? :: 'z' :r.f : :.";: - : : :' :"zzz : : : z ; ::::.: z r -■':..:':. 

the Poet estimated their greater or less degree of vekwity. 1 

:.ivf :";. .:v 7 :;;.f ;;:^; ;::;.;.-. ^-- 1 ; ;- . 
5 F-: : :-: ; 5iir.: rz-zf: 
i Ji:" .-'. :"..-" :...:■: >. z = :z.z ^izzzc bz"." zzzzz- 

:„._;-->■;•.?; : ; :"; 

-biz: '. .::':. :z.z Szr." _ ; : :: "z;::.z I :'_. .: z z;v : :\z :-^r. 
ziz.ir^zz-: : :' :z.z :z z.t. ::' :zzz sz::;z.z ; . S.n.f :L:s 1 : .€ 
v zz "t.;--z. :'---.-t :':zz.z -.:.-:- - .... r .z":t-Zt:.zz. : - -fr.zzziz's 
errrr5i::r. i.s ;^z: 1 :.z.i zz zzz: .zz :z.z- z„ .zzzz ; - z: zz - zzs :• 
::.z: zoz; ::. z;:zz :v v.*. -: Azzzziz z:z zzzvzrrf: .1 :"-? 
Bodleian Library, Xo. 42. « Kotandam : maxunaaa decw 
vestameiili antaqmtiis «kmes es^tunabanlnr, ita at yii 
. z. ;• -rzz; :.-z:z G-zz :> 



33-46 PARADISE, Canto XXIV. 525 

From that blest ardor, soon as it was stay'd ;, 
To whom she thus : " O everlasting light 
Of him, within whose mighty grasp our Lord 
Did leave the keys, which of this wondrous bliss 
He bare below ! tent 1 this man as thou wilt, 
With lighter probe or deep, touching the faith, 
By the which thou didst on the billows walk. 
If he in love, in hope, and in belief, 
Be steadfast, is not hid from thee : for thou 
Hast there thy ken, where all things are beheld 
In liveliest portraiture. But since true faith 
Has peopled this fair realm with citizens ; 
Meet is, that to exalt its glory more, 
Thou, in his audience, shoulclst thereof discourse." 

Like to the bachelor, who arms himself, 
And speaks not, till the master have proposed 
The question, to approve, 2 and not to end it ; 
♦So I, in silence, arm'd me, while she spake, 
Summoning up each argument to aid ; 
As was behooveful for such questioner, 
And such profession : " As good Christian ought, 
Declare thee, What is faith?" Whereat I raised 
My forehead to the light, whence this had breathed 
Then turn'd to Beatrice ; and in her looks 
Approval met, that from their inmost fount 
I should unlock the waters. " May the grace, 
That giveth me the captain of the church 
For confessor," said I, " vouchsafe to me 
Apt utterance for my thoughts ;" then added : " Sire ! 
E'en as set down by the unerring style 
Of thy dear brother, who with thee conspired 
To bring Rome in unto the way of life, 
Faith 3 of things hoped is substance, and the proof 
Of things not seen ; and herein doth consist 

1 Tent.} Tenta. The wori " tent," try, is used by om 
old writers, who, I think, usually spell it "taint;" as Mas- 
singer, Parliament of Love, act iv. sc. 3. "Do not fear, I 
have a staff to taint, and bravely." 

2 To approve.] " Per approbarla." Landino has " aiutarla." 
"The bachelor, or disputant in the school, arms or prepares 
himself to discuss the question proposed by the master, 
whose business it is to terminate it." Such is Vellutello's 
interpretation ; and it has the meiit of being, at least, more 
intelligible than Lombardi's, who, without reason, accuses 
the other commentators, except Venturi, (whose explanation 
he rejects,) of passing over the difficulty. 

3 Faith.] Hebrews, xi. 1. So Marino, in one of his sonnets, 
Which he calls Divozioni . 

Fede e sustanza di sperate cose, 
E delle non visibili argomento. 



526 THE VISK _N. C7-?< 

Me thinks its essence." — " Rightly ha- riu'd/ 

Was answer'd : "if thou well discern., why firSw 
He hath defined it substance, and tfi 

'•' The deep things," I replied. liich here 1 

scan 
D:s:ii:e:^y. are : i: : ::n mortal eye 
So hidden, they have in beiiei eieiee 
The:: beinr : en 

Is built: and. therefore substance, it intends. 
And inasmuch as ire mnsf needs infer 
From such belief our reasoning', all respect 
To other vi ed : hence ;:;::::: 

The intention k derived." Forthwith I he 
"If thus, whate'er by learning men attain. 
Were understood : the sophist would want room 
To exercise his v;-it." So breathed the flame 
Of xove . then added : "' Current 1 is the coin 
Thou utterst; both in weight and in alloy. 
But tell me, if thou hast it in thy parse." 

• • Even so glittering and so round," said I, 
" I not a whit misdoubt of its assay." 

Next issued 2 from the deep-imbosom'd splendor 
f Say. whence the costly jewel, on the which 

i C '-.-•■:■■-: "The answer thou hast made, is right: bat 
ler me know if thy inward persuasion be conformable to thy 
profession/' 

- ; : We find that the more men have been 

acquainted with the practice of Christianity, the greater evi- 
dence they have had K the truth of it, and" been more fully 
and rationally persuaded of it. To such I grant there are 
such powerful evidences of the truth of the doctrine of Christ 
by the effectual workings of the spirit of God upon t^eir 
souls, that all other arguments, as to their own satisfaction, 
may fall short of these. As to which, those verses of the 
poet Dantes, rendered into Latin by F. S :;inent 

and significant; for when he had introduced the Apostle 
Peter, asking him what it was which his faith was founded 
on, he answers. 

Deinde exivit ex luce profunda 

Q,ueb illic splendebat pretiosa gemma, 

Super quam omnis virtus fundatur. 
i. e. That God was pleased by immediate revelation of him 
self, to discover that divine truth to the world whereon oof 

doth stand as on its sure foundation; but when th« 
Apostle goes on to inquire how he knew this at first came 
answer to that is. 



- larga pluvia 



; Sancti. quae est dif 
S u | e i velere^ el so per novas membranas 
Est syllogismns ille qui earn mini conclusit 

Adeo acute, ut pre ilia demonstratione 
Omnis c-inonstratio alia mini videatur obtmsa. 



89-105. PARADISE, Canto XXIV 537 

Is founded every virtue, came to thee/' 

" The flood," I answer'd, " from the Spiiit of God 
Rain'd down upon the ancient bond and new, 1 — 
Here is the reasoning, that convinceth me 
So feelingly, each argument beside 
Seems blunt, and forceless, in comparison." 
Then heard I : " Wherefore holdest thou that each 
The elder proposition and the new, 
Which so persuade thee, are the voice of heaven ?" 

" The works, that follow'd, evidence their truth ;" 
I answer'd : " Nature did not make for these 
The iron hot, or on her anvil mould them." 

" Who voucheth to thee of the works themselves,'* 
Was the reply, " that they in very deed 
Are that they purport? None hath sworn so to thee." 

" That all the world," 2 said I, " should have been 
To Christian, and no miracle been wrought, [turn'd 



1. e. That the Spirit of God doth so fully discover itself both 
in the Old and New Testament, that all other arguments are 
but dull and heavy if compared with this." Still ingfleet, Or. 
Sa., b. ii. chap. ix. sect. xix. § 4. The reader will perceive 
that our learned divine has made an error in his quotation 
of this passage. 

1 The ancient bond and new.] The Old and Xew Testament. 

2 That all the world.] " We cannot conceive how the 
world should be at first induced to believe without mani- 
fest and uncontrolled miracles. For as Chrysostom speaks, 
tl <xn[igi(av xwptf e-rciGav, 7roAA</J fjiu^ov rd Qavfia (paiverai. 
It was the greatest miracle of all, if the world should believe 
without miracles. Which the poet Dantes hath well ex- 
pressed in the twenty -fourth canto of Paradise. For when 
the Apostle is there brought in, asking the Poet upon what 
account he took the Scriptures of the Old and Xew Testa- 
ment to be the Word of God ; his answer is, 

Probatio qua? verum hoc mihi recludit, 
Sunt opera, qua? secuta sunt, ad quae Xatura 
Xon cande fecit ferrum unquam aut percussit incudem. 
1. e. The evidence of that is the Divi.ie Power of miracles 
which was in those who delivsr'd thcs.i things to the world. 
And when the Apostle catechiseth him further, how he knew 
those miracles were such as they pretended to be, viz. that 
they were true and divine ; his answer is, 

Si orbis terrse sese convertit ad Christianismum 

Inquiebam ego, sine miraculis ; hoc nnum 

Est tale, ut reliqua non sint ejus centesima pars. 

i. e. If the world should be converted to the Christian faith 
without miracles, this would be so great a miracle, that other? 
were not to be compared with it. I conclude this, then, with 
that known saying of St. Austin, Quisquis adhuc prodigia, ul 
2redal, inquiret, magnum est ipse prodigium qui munda 
sredente non credit: He that seeks for miracles still to in 
dace him to faith, w T hen the world is converted to the Chris 



528 THE VISION. 100-133 

Would in itself be such a miracle, 
The rest were not an hundredth part so great. 
E'en thou went'st forth in poverty and hunger 
To set the goodly plant, that, from the vine 
It once was, now is grown unsightly bramble." 

That ended, through the high celestial court 
Resounded all the spheres, " Praise we one God !" 
In song of most unearthly melody. 
And when that Worthy 1 thus, from branch to branch. 
Examining, had led me, that we now 
Approach'd the topmost bough ; he straight resumed 
" The grace, that holds sweet dalliance with thy soul, 
So far discreetly hath thy lips unclosed ; 
That whatsoe'er has pass'd them, I commend. 
Behooves thee to express, what thou believest, 
The next ; and, whereon, thy belief hath grown." 

" O saintly sire and spirit !" I began, 
" Who seest that, which thou didst so believe, 
As to outstrip 12 feet younger than thine own, 
Toward the sepulchre ; thy will is here, 
That I the tenor of my creed unfold ; 
And thou, the cause of it, hast likewise ask'd. 
And I reply : I in one God believe ; 
One sole eternal Godhead, of whose love 
All heaven is moved, himself unmoved the while. 
Nor demonstration physical alone, 
Or more intelligential and abstruse, 
Persuades me to this faith : but from that truth 



tian faith, he needs not seek for prodigies abroad ; he wants 
only a looking-glass to discover one. For as he goes on, Unde 
temporibus eruditis, et omne quod fieri non potest respuen 
tibus, sine ullis miraculis nimium mirabiliter incredibilia 
credidit mundus 1 Whence came it to pass that in so learned 
and wary an age as that was which the Apostles preached 
in, the world without miracles should be brought to belie V€ 
things so strangely incredible as those were which Chrisl 
and his Aprstles preach' d V Stilling-fleet, Or. Sa., b. ii. chap, 
x. sect v. § i. 

Donne, "in his Sermons, (vo . ii. p. 215, fol. edit.,) quotes a 
similar passage from Augustine, and applies it to the demand 
for miracles, made by Roman Catholics on Protestants. 

i That Worthy. .] Q,uel Baron. In the next Canto, St. James 
is called "Barone." So in Boccaccio, G. vi. N. 10, we find 
" Baron Messer Santo Antonio." 

2 As to outstrip.] Venturi insists that the Poet has here 
" made a slip ;" for that John came first to the sepulchre, 
though Peter was the first to enter it. But let Dante have 
leave to explain his own meaning, in a passage from his 
third book De Monarchia: "Dicit etiam Johannes ipsum 
(scilicit Petrum) introiisse subito, cum venit in monumen- 
tun^ v;dens alium discipulum cunctantem ad ostium." p. 146 



134-151. PARADISE, Canto XXV 529 

It cometh to me rather, which is shed 

Through Moses ; the rapt Prophets ; and the Psalms ; 

The Gospel ; and what ye yourselves did write, 

When ye were gifted of the Holy Ghost. 

In three eternal Persons I believe ; 

Essence threefold and one ; mysterious league 

Of union absolute, which, many a time, 

The word of gospel lore upon my mind 

Imprints : and from this germ, this firstling spark 

The lively flame dilates ; and, like heaven's star. 

Doth glitter in me." As the master hears, 

Well pleased, and then enfoldeth in his arms 

The servant, who hath joyful tidings brought, 

And having told the errand keeps his peace ; 

Thus benediction uttering with song, 

Soon as my peace I held, compass'd me thrice 

The apostolic radiance, whose behest 

Had oped my lips : so well their answer pleased 



CANTO XXV 

ARGUMENT. . 

:5aint James questions our Poet concerning Hope Jsext 
Saint John appears ; and, on perceiving that Dante looks 
intently on him, informs him that he, Saint John, had left 
his body resolved into earth, upon the earth ; and that 
Christ and the Virgin alone had come with their bodies 
into heaven. 

If e'er the sacred poem, that hath made 
Both heaven and earth copartners in its toil, 
And with lean abstinence, through many a year, 
Faded my brow, be destined to prevail 
Over the cruelty, which bars me forth 
Of the fair sheepfold, 1 where, a sleeping lamb, 
The wolves set on and fain had worried me ; 
With other voice, and fleece of other grain, 
I shall forthwith return ; and, standing up 
At my baptismal font, shall claim the wreath 
Due to the poet's temples : for I there 
First enter'd on the faith, which maketh souls 
Acceptable to God : and, for its sake, 2 
Peter had then circled my forehead thus. 

Next from the squadron, whence had issued forth 
The first fruit of Christ's vicars on the earth, 

1 The fair sheepfold.] Florence, whence he was banished. 
* For its sake. ] For the sake of that faith. 
45 



530 THE VISION. 17-3) 

Toward us moved a light, at view whereof 
My Lady, full of gladness, spake to me : 
" Lo ! lo ! behold tho peer of mickle might, 
That makes Galicia thronged with visitants." 1 
As when the ring-dove by his mate alights ; 
In circles, ea^h about the other wheels, 
And, murmuring, coos his fondness : thus saw I 
One, of the other 2 great and glorious prince, 
With kindly greeting, haii'd ; extolling, both, 
Their heavenly banqueting: but when an end 
Was to their gratulation, silent, each, 
Before me sat they down, so burning bright, 
I could not look upon them. Smiling then, 
Beatrice spake : " O life in glory shrined ! 
Who 3 didst the largess 4 of our kingly court 



1 Galicia thronged with visitants.] See Mariana, Hist., lib 
xi. cap. xiii. "En el tlempo," &c. "At the time that the 
sepulchre of the apostle St. James was discovered, the devo- 
tion for that place extended itself not only over all Spain, but 
even round about to foreign nations. Multitudes from all 
parts of the world came to visit it. Many others were de- 
terred by the difficulty of the journey, by the roughness and 
barrenness of those parts, and by the'incursions of "the Moors, 
who made captives many of the pilgrims. — The canons of St, 
Eloy, afterwards, (the precise time is not known,) with a de- 
sire of remedying these evils, built, in many places, along the 
whole road, which reached as far as to France, hospitals fo? 
the reception of the pilgrims." In the Gonvito, p. 74, we 
find "la galassia," &c, "the galaxy, that is, the white circle 
which the common people call the way of Saint James ;" on 
which Biscioni remarks : " The common people formerly 
considered the milky way as a sign by night to pilgrims, whe 
were going to Saint James of Galicia ; and this perhaps arose 
from the resemblance of the word galaxy to Galicia. I have 
cften," he adds. " heard women and peasants call it the Ho 
man .;oad," " la strada di Roma." 

Lo there (quod he) cast up thine eye, 

Se yondir, lo ! the Galaxie, 

The whiche men clepe the milky way, 

For it is white, and some perfay, 

Ycallin it han Watlynge Strete. 

Chaucer, The House of Farms, a, ii, 
* One of the otfitr.] Saint Peter and Saint James. 
3 Who.] The Epistle of St. James is here attributed to 
the eider apostie of that name, whose shrine was at Com- 
postella, in Galicia. Which of the two was the author of it, 
is yet doubtful. The learned and candid Michaelis contends 
very forcibly for its having been written by James the Elder 
Lardner rejects that opinion as absurd : while Benson argues 
against it, but is well answered by Michaelis, who, after all, 
is obliged to leave the question undecided. See his Intro- 
duction to the New Testament, translated by Dr. Marsh, ed. 
Cambridge, 1793, vol. iv. cap. xxvi. § 1, 2, 3. Mr. Home sup 
poses, that as ^he elder James " was put to death by Heror 



32-53. PARADISE, Canto XXV. 531 

Set down with faithful pen ; let now thy voice. 
Of hope the praises, in this height resound. 
For well thou know'st, who figurest it as oft, 1 
As Jesus, to ye three, more brightly shone." 

" Lift up thy head ; and be thou strong in trust 
For that, which hither from the mortal world 
Arriveth, must be ripen'd in our beam." 

Such cheering accents from the second flam** 2 
Assured me ; and mine eyes I lifted up 3 
Unto the mountains, that had bow'd them late 
With over-heavy burden. " Sith our Liege 
Wills of his grace, that thou, or e'er thy death, 
In the most secret council with his lords 
Shouldst be confronted, so that having view'd 
The glories of our court, thou mayst therewith 
Thyself, and all who hear, invigorate 
With hope, that leads to blissful end ; declare, 
What is that hope ? how it doth flourish in thee ? 
And whence thou hadst it 1" Thus, proceeding still. 
The second light : and she, whose gentle love 
My soaring pennons in that lofty flight 
Escorted, thus preventing me, rejoin'd: 

Agrippa, A. D. 44, (Acts xii.,) it is evident that he was not 
the author of the epistle which bears the name of James, be- 
cause it contains passages which refer to a later period, viz. 
v. 1-8, which intimates the then immediately approaching 
destruction of Jerusalem, and the subversion of the Jewish 
polity." Introduction to the Critical Study and Knowledge oj 
the Holy Scriptures, Ed. 1818, vol. ii. p. 600. 

4 Largess.] He appears *o allude to the Epistle of James, 
chap. i. v. 5. "If any of }ou lack wisdom, let him ask of 
God, that giveth to all men liberally, and :ipbraideth not ; and 
it shall be given him." Or, to v. 17: "Every good gift and 
every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the 
Father of li»hts." Some editions, however, read " l'allegrez- 
za," "joy," instead of "la larghezza." 

1 As oft.] Landino and Venturi, who read " Quanto," ex 
plain this, that the frequency with which James had com 
mended the virtue of hope, was in proportion to the bright 
ness in which Jesus had appeared at his transfiguration. 
Vellutello, who reads "Quante," supposes that James three 
times recommends patient hope in the last chapter of his 
Epistle ; and that Jesus, as many times, showed his bright' 
ness to the three disciples ; once when he cleansed the lepers. 
(Luke, v. ;) again when he raised the daughter of Ja'irus, 
(Mark, v. ;) and a third time when he was transfigured. As 
to Lombard!, who also reads " Quante," his construction of 
the passage seems to me scarcely intelligible. 

2 The second flame.] St. James. 

3 / lifted up.] " I looked up to the Apostles." " I will lift 
up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help." 
Psaln cxxi 1. 



532 THE VISION Si-& 

14 Among her sons, not one more full of h )pe, 
Hath the church militant: so 'tis of him 
Recorded in the sun, whose liberal orb 
Enlighten eth all our tribe : and ere his term 
Of warfare, hence permitted he is come, 
From Egypt to Jerusalem, 1 to see. 
The other points, both which 2 thou hast inquired, 
Not for more knowledge, but that he may tell 
How dear thou hold'st the virtue ; these to him 
Leave I : for he may answer thee with ease, 
And without boasting, so God give him grace." 

Like to the scholar, practised in his task. 
Who, willing to give proof of diligence, 
Seconds his teacher gladly ; " Hope," 3 said I, 
" Is of the joy to come a sure expectance, 
The effect of grace divine and merit preceding. 
This light from many a star, visits my heart ; 
But flow'd to me, the first, from him who sang 
The songs of the Supreme ; himself supreme 
Among his tuneful brethren. ' Let all hope 
In thee,' so spake his anthem, 4 ■ who have known 
Thy name ;' and, with my faith, who know not that 1 
From thee, the next, distilling from his spring, 
In thine epistle, fell on me the drops 
So plenteously, that I on others shower 
The influence of their dew." Whileas I spake, 
A lamping, as of quick and volley'd lightning, 
Within the bosom of that mighty sheen 6 
Play'd tremulous ; then forth these accents breathed : 
" Love for the virtue, which attended me 
E'en to the palm, and issuing from the field, 
Glows vigorous yet within me ; and inspires 

1 From Egypt to Jerusalem.] From the lower world to 
heaven. 

2 Botk which.] One point Beatrice has herself answered ; 
" how that hope flourishes in him." The other two remain 
for Dante to resolve. 

3 Hope.] ■ This is from the Sentences of Petrus Lombardus 
" Est autem spes virtus, qua spiritualia et sterna bona spe 
rantur id est cum fiducia expectantur. Est enim spes certa 
nxpectatio futurae beatitudinis, veniens ex dei gratia et ex 
meritis prsecedentibus vel ipsam spem, quam natura prosit 
charitas ut rem speratam, id est beatitudinem reternam 
Sine meritis enim aliquid sperare ion spes, sed praesumptio 
dici potest." Pet. Lomb. Sent., lib. iii dist. 28. Ed. Bas. 1486, 
fol. 

4 His anthem ] " They that know thy name will put theii 
trust in thee." Psalm ix. 10. 

That mighty sheen.] The spirit of Saint James 



86-112. PARADISE, Canto XXV. 533 

To ask of thee, whom also it delights, 

What, promise thou from hope, in chief, dost win " 

<; Both scriptures, new and ancient," I replied, 
M Propose the mark (which even now I view) 
For souls beloved of God. Isaias 1 saith, 
' That, in their own land, each one must be clad 
In twofold vesture ;' and their proper land 
Is this delicious life. In terms more full, 
And clearer far, thy brother 2 hath set forth 
This revelation to us, where he tells 
Of the white raiment destined to the saints.'' 
And, as the words were ending, from above, 
■'•' They hope in thee I" first heard we cried : whereto 
Answer'd the carols all. Amidst them next, 
A light of so clear amplitude emerged, 
That winter's month 3 were but a single day, 
Were such a crystal in the Cancer's sign. 

Like as a virgin 4 riseth up, and goes, 
And enters on the mazes of the dance ; 
Though gay, yet innocent of worse intent, 
Than to do fitting honor to the bride : 
So I beheld the new effulgence come 
Unto the other two, who in a ring 
Wheel'd, as became their rapture. In the dance,' 
And in the song, it mingled. And the dame 
Held on them fix'd her looks ; e'en as the spouse, 
Silent, and moveless. " This 5 is he, who lay 

1 Isaias.] " He hath clothed me with the garments of 
galvation. he hath covered me with the robe of righteous- 
ness." Chap. l.\i. 10. 

2 Thy brother.] St. John in the Revelation, vii. 9. 

3 Winter's month.] " If a luminary, like that which now 
appeared, were to shine throughout the month following the 
winter solstice, during which the constellation Cancer ap- 
pears in the east at the setting of the sun, there would be 
no interruption to the light, but the whole month would be 
as a single day." 

4 Like as a virgin.] There is a pretty counterpart to this 
simile in the Quadriregio of Frezzi : 

Poi come donna, che fa reverenza 
-Lassando il tallo, tal' atto fe ella. 

Lib. iv. cap v. 
Then as a lady, when she leaves the dance, 
Maketh obeisance, even so did she. 
The same writer has another more like that in the text. 
Come donzella, c'ha a guidar la danza, 
Che a chi l'invita reverenzia free, 
E po' incomincia vergognosa e manza. 
Cosi colei. &c. Lib. i\. cap. ii. 

6 This. I St. John, who reclined on the bosom of our Sa 
viour, and to whose charge Jesus recommended his mother. 



534 THt VISION. 113-33* 

Upon tne bosom of our pelican : 

This he ; into whose keeping, from the crass, 

The mighty charge was given." Thus she spake 

Yr: therefore naught the more removed her sight 

From marking them : or e'er her words began, 

Or when they closed As he, who looks intent, 

And strives with searching ken, how he may see 

The sun in his eclipse, and, through desire 

Of seeing, loseth power of sight; so I 1 

7 - r : ' i on that last resplendence, while I heard : 

\ v hy dazzlest thou thine eyes in seeking that, 
Which here abides not ? Earth my body is, 
In earth ; and shall be, with the rest, so long, 
As till our number equal the decree 
Of the Most High. The two 2 that have ascended, 
In tins onr blessed cloister, shine alone 
With the two garments. So report below/* 

As when, for ease of labor, or to shun 
Suspected peril, at a whistle's breath, 
The oars, ere while dash'd frequent in the wave, 
All rest : the flamy circle at that voice 
So rested ; and the mingling sound was still, ■ 
Which from the trinal band, soft-breathing, rase 
I turn'd, but ah ! how trembled in my thought, 
When, looking at my side again to s: - 
Beatrice, I descried her not; although. 
Not distant, on the happy coast she stood. 



CANTO X XVI. 



aegv::z::t. 

Eamt John examines onr Poet touching 
Adam tells when he was created, and \ 
-_-.i". ?:-.ri:..5f : r.:w ". :~z r.f :-.:..:.-,. 
was the occasion of his fall ; when he 
heaven ; and what language he spake. 



With dazzled eyes, while wondering I remain'd ; 

Fcrth of the beamy flame, 8 which dazzled me, 

1 So L] He looked so earnestly; to descry whether St. John 
were present there in body, or In spirit only ; having had Yam 
doubis raised by that saying of onr Saviour's: "If I will, that 
he tarry till I come, what is that to theeT" 

2 The tvx>.] Christ and Mary, whom he has described m 
the last Canto but one, as rising above Ms sight. 

* The beamy fiame.) St. John. 



3-38. fARADISE, Cantc XXVI. 535 

Issued a breath, that in attention mute [well, 

Detain'd me ; and these words it spake : " "Twere 

That, long as till thy vision, on my form 

O'erspent, regain its virtue, with discourse 

Thou compensate the brief delay. Say then, 

Beginning, to what point thy soul aspires : 

And meanwhile rest assured, that sight in thee 

Is but o'erpowerM a space, not wholly quench'd ; 

Since thy fair guide and lovely, in her look 

Hath potency, the like to that which dwelt 

In Ananias' hand." 1 I answering thus : 

••' Be to mine eyes the remedy, or late 

Or early, at her pleasure ; for they were 

The gates, at which she enter'd, and did light 

Her never-dying fire. My wishes here 

Are centred : in this palace is the weal, 

That Alpha and Omega is, to all 

The lessons love can read me." Yet again 

The voice, which had dispersed my fear when dazed 

With that excess, to converse urged, and spake : 

" Behooves thee sift more narrowly thy terms ; 

And say, who levell'd at this scope thy bow." 

"Philosophy," said I, " hath arguments, 
And this place hath authority enough, 
To imprint in me such love : for, of constraint, 
Good, inasmuch as we perceive the good, 
Kindles our love ; and in degree the more, 
As it comprises more of goodness in 't. 
The essence then, where such advantage is, 
That each good, found without it, is naught else 
But of his light the beam, must needs attract 
The soul of each one, loving, who the truth 
Discerns, on which this proof is built. Such truth 
Learn I from him, 2 who shows me the first love 
Of all intelligential substances 
Eternal : from his voice I learn, whose word 



1 Ananias' hand.] Who, by putting his hand on St. Paul, 
restored his sight. Acts, ix. 17. 

2 FrotK kimS, Some suppose that Plato is here meant, 
who, in his Banquet, makes Phaedrus say : h\io\oytirat 
h *Ep<ag iv ro7; vpea(3vrdraig dvai 1 -nQzc^vrdrog 6k wr, 
fityitxTitiv ayaB(ov Tjiuv airtdg ivriv. "Love is confessedly 
among the eldest of beings ; and being the eldest, is the cause 
to us of the greatest goods." Plat., Op., torn. x. p. 177, Bip 
ed. Others have understood it of Aristotle ; and others, of 
the writer who goes by the name of Dionysius the Areopp 
gite, referred to in the twenty-eighth canto. 



636 THE VISION, 39 -8C 

Is truth : that of himself to Moses saith, 
1 1 will make 1 all my good before thee pass :' 
Lastly, from thee I learn, who chief proclaim'si, 
E'en at the outset' 2 of thy heralding, 
In mortal ears the mystery of heaven/' 

••' Through human wisdom, and the i/Jthority 
Therewith agreeing," heard I answerd, " keep 
The choicest, of thy love for God. But say. 
If thou yet other cords within thee feei'st, 
That draw thee towards him ; so that thou report 
How many are the fangs, with which this love 
Is grappled to thy soul.'" 5 I did not miss. 
To what intent the eagle of our Lord 3 
Had pointed his demand ; yea, noted well 
The avowal which he led to ; and resumed : 
" All grappling bonds, that knit the heart to God. 
Confederate to make fast our charity. 
The being of the world : and mine own being ; 
The death which He endured, that I should live ; 
And that, which all the faithful hope, as I do ; 
To the foremention'd lively knowledge join'd ; 
Have from the sea of ill love saved my bark. 
And on the coast secured it of the right. 
As for the leaves, 4 that in the garden bloom, 
My love for them is great, as is the good 
Dealt by the eternal hand, that tends them ail.' 3 

I ended : and therewith a song most sweet 
Rang through the spheres ; and " Holy, holy, holy/ 
Accordant with the rest, my lady sang. 
And as a sleep is broken and dispersed 
Through sharp encounter of the nimble light, 
With the eye's spirit running forth to meet 
The ray, from membrane on to membrane urged ; 
And the upstartled wight loathes that he sees : 
So, at his sudden waking, he misdeems 
Of all around him, till assurance waits 
On better judgment : thus the saintly dame 
Drove from before mine eyes the motes away, 
With the resplendence of her own, that cast 
Their brightness downward," thousand miles below. 
Whence I my vision, clearer than before, 
Recoverd : and well-nigh astounded, ask'd 

1 I will make.] Exodus, xxxiii. 19. 

2 At the outset.] John, i. 1. &c. 

3 The eagle of our Lord.] St. John. 
* The hcves.] Created beings- 



82-113. PARADISE, Canto XXV j, 533 

Of a fourth light, that now with us I saw. 

And Beatrice : " The first living soul, 1 
That ever the first virtue framed, admires 
Within these rays his Maker." Like the leaf, 
That bows its lithe top till the blast is blown ; 
By its own virtue rear'd, then stands aloof: 
So I, the while she said, awe-stricken bow'd. 
Then eagerness to speak embolden'd me ; 
And I began: " O fruit ! that wast alone 
Mature, when first engender'd ; ancient father . 
That doubly seest in every wedded bride 
Thy daughter, by affinity and b.'ood ; 
Devoutly as I may, I pray thee hold 
Converse with me : my will thou seest : and I, 
More speedily to hear thee, tell it not." 

It chanceth oft some animal bewrayo, 
Through the sleek covering'' 2 of his furry coat, 
The fondness, that stirs in him, and conforms 
His outside seeming to the cheer within : 
And in like guise was Adam's spirit moved 
To joyous mood, that through the covering shone, 
Transparent, when to pleasure me it spake : 
" No need thy will be told, which I untold 
Better discern, than thou whatever thing 
Thou hold'st most certain : for that will I see 
In Him, who is truth's mirror ; and Himself, 
Parhelion 3 unto all things, and naught else, [God 
To Him. This wouldst thou hear : how long since 
Placed me in that high garden, from whose bounds 
She led me up this ladder, steep and long ; 
What space endured my season of delight ; 
Whence truly sprang the wrath that banish'd me ; 
And what the language, which I spake and framed. 

1 The first living soul.] Adam. 

3 Covering.] Lombardi's explanation of this passage is 
jjoraewhat ludicrous. By "un animal coverto." he under- 
stands, not an animal in its natural covering of fur or hair, 
but one dressed up with clothes, as a dog, for instance, " so 
elad fcr sport ;" '* un cane per trastullc coperto." 

Chancer describes, as one of the tckens of pleasure in a 
dog, " the smoothing down of his hairs." 
It came and crept to me as low, 
Right as it had me yknow, 
Held down his head, and joyned his eares 
And laid all smooth downe his heares. 

The Dreameof Chaucer, or Booke of the Duchess^ 
Ed. 1602, foi; 229. 
s Parhelion.'] Who enlightens and comprehends all things: 
>nt is himself enlightened and comprehended by none. 



538 THE VISION 114-134 

Not that I tasted 1 of the tree, my son, 

Was in itself the cause of that exile, 

But only my transgressing of the mark 

Assign'd me. There, whence 2 at thy lady r s host 

The Mantuan moved him, still was I debarr'd 

This council, till the sun had made complete, 

Four thousand and three hundred rounds and twice 

His annual journey ; and, through every light 

In his broad pathway, saw I him return, 

Thousand save seventy times, the while I dwelt 

Upon the earth. The language 3 I did use 

Was worn away, or ever Nimrod's race 

Their unaccomplishable work began. 

For naught, 4 that man inclines to, e'er was lasting ; 

Left by his reason free, and variable 

As is the sky that sways him. That he speaks, 

Is nature's prompting : whether thus, or thus, 

She leaves to you, as ye do most affect it. 

Ere I descended into hell's abyss, 

El 5 was the name on earth of the Chief Good. 

Whose joy enfolds me : Eli then 'twas call d. 



1 Not that I tasted.! So Frezzi : 

per colpa fii 1' uom messo in bancio, 

Non solamente per gustar del porno ; 
Ma perch' e' trapassb di Dio il comando. 

// Quadrir., lib. iv. cap. 1 
a Whence.] That is, from Limbo. See Hell, Canto ii. 53. 
Adam says that 5232 years elapsed from his creation to tha 
time of his deliverance, which followed the death of Christ. 

3 The language.'] Hac forma locutionis locutus est Adam, 
hac forma locuti sunt omnes posteri ejus usque ad srlifica 
tionem turris Babel. De Vulg. Eloq., lib. i. cap. vi. "This 
form of speech Adam used; this, all his posterity until the 
building of the tower of Babel." 

4 For naught.] Ther is a similar passage in the De Vu!g. 
Eloq., lib. i. cap. ix. " Since, therefore, all our language, 
except that which was created together with the first man 
by God, has been repaired according to our own will a*nd 
pleasure, after that confusion, which was nothing else than 
a forget fulness of the former ; and since man is a being most 
unstable and variable, our language can neither be lasting 
nor continuous ; but, like other things which belong to us, 
as customs and dress, must be varied by distances of places 
and times." 

5 El.] Some read Un, " One," instead of El ; but the lat 
ter of these readings is confirmed by a passage from Dante's 
Treatise de Vulg. Eloq., lib. i. cap. iv. " Qiiod prius vox 
primi loquentis sonaverit, viro sanae mentis in promptu esse 
non dubito ipsum fuisse quod Deus est, videlicet El." St, 
Isidore in the Origines, lib. vii. cap. i., had said, " Primitm 
apud Hebroeos dei nomen El dicitur." 



135-HI. PARADISE, Caxto XXVII. 539 

And so beseemeth : for, in mortals, use 1 
Is as the leaf upon the bough : that goes, 
And other comes instead. Upon the mount 
Most high above the waters, all my life, 2 
Both innocent and guilty, did but reach 
From the first hour, to that which cometh next 
("As the sun changes quarter) to the sixth." 



ga:;to xxvii. 

ARGUMENT. 
Saint Peter bitterly rebukes the covetousness of his succes- 
sors in the apostolic see, while all the heavenly host sym- 
pathize in his indignation : they then vanish upwards. 
Beatrice bids Dante again cast his view below. After- 
wards they are borne into the ninth heaven, of which she 
shows him the nature and properties ; blaming the per- 
verseness of man, who places his will on low and perish- 
able things. 

Then* " Glory to the Father, to the Son, 
And to the Holy Spirit," rang aloud 
Throughout all Paradise ; that with the song 
My spirit reel'd, so passing sweet the strain. 
And what I saw was equal ecstasy : 
One universal smile 3 it seem'd of all things ; 
Joy past compare ; gladness unutterable ; 
Imperishable life of peace and love ; 
Exhaustless riches, and unmeasured bliss. 

Before mine eyes stood the four torches 4 lit : 
And that, 5 which first had come, began to wax 
In brightness ; and, in semblance, such became, 
As Jove might be, if he and Mars were birds, 
And interchanged their plumes. Silence ensued, 

Use.] From Horace, Ars Poet. G2. 
3 Jill my life.] " I remained in the terrestrial Paradise 
cniy to the seventh hour." In the Historia Scolastica of 
Petrus Comestor, it is said of our first parents : " Quidaru 
tradnnt eos fuisse in Paradiso septem horas " f. 9. ed. Par 
1513, 4to. 

3 One universal smile.} 

Ivi ogni cosa intorno m'assembrava 
Un ? allegrezza di giocondo rise. 

Frezzi, II Quadrir., lib. iv. cap. ii. 

all things smiled. 

Milton, P. L., b. \iii. 205. 

4 Four torches.] St. Peter, St. James, St. John, and Adam 
6 That.] St. Peter, who looked as the planet Jupiter wouldj 

If it assumed the sanguine appearance ?f Mars 



640 THE VISION. 15-48 

Through the blest quire ; by Him, who here appoint/ 

Vicissitude of ministry, enjoin'd ; 

When thus I heard: " Wonder not, if my hue 

Be changed ; for, while I speak, these shalt thou see 

All in like manner change with me. My place 

He 1 who usurps on earth, (my place, ay, min&j 

Which in the presence of the son of God 

Is void.) the same hath made my cemetery 

A common sewer of puddle and of blood : 

The more below his triumph, who from hence 

Malignant fell." Such color, 2 as the sun, 

At eve or morning, paints an adverse cloud, 

Then saw I sprinkled over all the sky. 

And as the unblemish'd dame, who, in herself 

Secure of censure, yet at bare report 

Of others failing, shrinks with maiden fear : 

So Beatrice, in her semblance, changed: 

And such eclipse in heaven, methinks, was seen, 

When the Most Holy suffer'd. Then the words 

Proceeded, with voice, alter'd from itself 

So clean, the semblance did not alter more. 

'■' Not to this end was Christ 5 spouse with my bloodj 

With that of Linus, and of Cletus, 3 fed ; 

That she might serve for purchase of base gold : 

But for the purchase of this happy life, 

Did Sextus, Pius, and Callixtus bleed, 

And Urban f they, whose doom was not without 

Much weeping seal'd. Xo purpose was of ours. 5 

That on the right hand of our successors, 

Part of the Christian people should be set, 

And part upon their left ; nor that the kr 

vVhich were vouchsafed me, should for ensign serve 

Unto the banners, that do levy war 

On the baptized; nor I, for sigil-mark, 

i Me.] Boniface VIII. 
- Such color.] 

Qui color infectis adversi solis ab ictu 

2s ubibus ssse solet ; ant purpurea Aurora. 

Ovid. Met., lib. ii? 184. 
3 Of Linus, and of Cletus.} Bishops of Home in the flrsi 
;entury. 
8 Did Sextus, Pius and Callixtus bleed, 
And Urban.] The former two. bishops of the same srt 
.n the second ; and the others, in the fourth century. 

5 JVo purpose teas of ours.] 4 ' We did not intend that our 
successors should take any part in the political divisions 
among Christians ; or that my figure (the seal of St. Peter; 
should serve as a mark to authorize iniquitous grants and 
privileges." 



43-78. PARADISE, Canto XXVII. 541 

Set upon sold and lying privileges : 

Which makes me oft to bicker and turn red. 

In shepherd's clothing, greedy wolves 1 below 

Range wide o'er all the pastures. Arm of God ! 

Why longer sleep'st thou ? Cahorsines and Gascons 

Prepare to quaff our blood. O good beginning '. 

To what a vile conclusion must thou stoop. 

But the high providence, which did defend, 

Through Scipio, the world's empery for Rome, 

Will not delay its succor: and thou, son, 3 

Who through thy mortal weight shalt yet again 

Return below, open thy lips, nor hide 

What is by me not hidden." As a flood 

Of frozen vapors streams adown the air, 

What time the she-goat 4 with her skiey horn 

Touches the sun ; so saw I there stream wide 

The vapors, who with us had linger'd late, 

And with glad triumph deck the ethereal cope. 

Onward my sight their semblances pursued ; 

So far pursued, as till the space between 

From its reach sever'd them : whereat the guide 

Celestial, marking me no more intent 

On upward gazing, said, " Look down, and see 

What circuit thou hast compass'd." From the hou- 8 

When I before had cast my view beneath, 

All the first region overpass'd I saw, 

Which from the midmost to the boundary winds ; 

That onward, thence, from Gades, 6 I beheld 

The unwise passage of Laertes' son ; 

And hitherward the shore, 7 where thou, Europa, 

i Wolves.] 
Wolves shall succeed to teachers, grievous wolves. 

Milton, P. L., b. xii. 508. 

2 Cahorsines and Gascons.] He alludes to Jacques d'Ossa, 
a native of Cahors, who filled the papal chair in 1316, aftei 
it had been two years vacant, and assumed the name of John 
XXII. , and to Clement V., a Gascon, of whom see Hell, Canto 
xix. 86, and Note. 

3 Thou, son.] Beatrus Petrus — multaque locutus est, et do- 
cuit me de veteri testamento, de hominibus etiam adhucin secw 
lo adhuc viventibus plura peccata intonuit mihi, precepitque. ut 
ea qua de illis audieram eis referrem. Mberici Visio, % 45. 

4 The she-£oat.] When the sun is in Capricorn. 

5 From the hour.] Since he had last looked (see Canto xxii.) 
he perceived that he had passed from the meridian circle ta 
the eastern horizon ; the half of our hemisphere, and a quar- 
ter of the heaven. 

6 From Gades.] See Hell, Canto xxvi. 106 

7 The shore.] Phoenicia, where Europa, the daughter of Age 
fcor, mounted on the back of Jupiter, in his shape of a Dull. 

46 



M3 1HE VISION. 79-112 

Madest luee a joyful burden ; and yet more 
Of this dim spot had seen, but that the sun. 1 
A constellation off and more, had ta'en 
His progress in the zodiac underneath. 

Then by the spirit, that doth never leave 
Its amorous dalliance with my lady's looks, 
Back with redoubled ardor were mine eyes 
Led unto her : and from her radiant smiles, 
Whenas I turn'd me, pleasure so divine 
Did lighten on me, that whatever bait 
Or art or nature in the human flesh, 
Or in its limn'd resemblance, can combine 
Through greedy eyes to take the soul withal, 
Were, to her beauty, nothing. Its boon influenet 
From the fair nest of Leda 2 rapt me forth, 
And wafted on into the swiftest heaven. 

What place for entrance Beatrice chose, 
I may not say ; so uniform was all, 
Liveliest and loftiest. She my secret wish 
Divined ; and, with such gladness, that God's love 
Seem' d from her visage shining, thus began : 
" Here is the goal, whence motion on his race 
Starts : motionless the centre, and the rest 
All moved aroimd. Except the soul divine, 
Place in this heaven is none ; the soul divine, 
Wherein the love, which ruleth o'er its orb, 
Is kindled, and the virtue, that it sheds : 
One circle, light and love, enclasping it, 
As this doth clasp the others ; and to Him, 
Who draws the bound, its limit only known. 
Measured itself by none, it doth divide 
Motion to all, counted unto them forth, 
As by the fifth or half ye count forth ten. [aeesl : 
The vase, wherein time's roots 3 are plunged, thou 



i The sun.] Dante was in the constellation Gemini, and 
.•he sun in Aries. There was, therefore, part of those two 
tonstellations, and the whole of Taurus, between them. 

2 The fair nest of Leda.] " From the Gemini ;" thus called, 
because Leda was the mother of the twins, Castor and Pollux. 

3 Time's roots.] "Here," says Beatrice, "are the roots, 
from whence time springs : for the parts, into which it is di- 
vided, the other heavens must be considered." And she then 
breaks out into an exclamation on the degeneracy of human 
nature, which does not lift itself to the contemplation of da 
Vine things. Thus in the Quadriregio, lib. ii. cap. vi. 

Ii tempo, e"l ciel, che sopra noi e volto, 
E una cosa, e non voltando il cielo, 
Cib che da tempo pende saria tolto. 



H3-135. PARADISE, Canto XXVII. 543 

Look elsewhere for the leaves. O mortal lust .' 

That canst not lift thy head above the waves 

Which whelm and sink thee down. The will in man 

Bears goodly blossoms ; but its ruddy promise 

Is, by the dripping of perpeiual rain, 

Made mere abortion : faith and innocence 

Are met with but in babes ; each taking leave, 

"Ere cheeks with down are sprinkled : he, that fasts 

While yet a stammerer, with his tongue let loose 

Gluts every food alike in every moon : 

One, yet a babbler, loves and listens to 

His mother ; but no sooner hath free use 

Of speech, than he doth wish her in her grave. 

So suddenly doth the fair child of him, 1 

Whose welcome is the morn and eve his parting, 

To negro blackness change her virgin white. 

" Thou, to abate thy wonder, note, that none 2 
Bears rule in earth ; and its frail family 
Are therefore wanderers. Yet before the date,* 
When, through the hundredth in his reckoning 
Pale January must be shoved aside [dropp'd, 

From winter's calendar, these heavenly spheres 
Shall roar so loud, that fortune shall be fain 4 



Time, and the heaven that turneth o'er our heads, 
Are but as one ; and if the heaven turn'd not, 
That, which depends on time, were turn'd away. 

1 The fair child of him.] There is something very similar 
5 n our author's Treatise de Monarchia, lib. i. p. 104. "Hu- 
nanum genus filius est coeli quod est perfectissimuin in omni 
mere suo. Generat enim homo hominem et sol ju.xta secun- 
dum in Naturali Auditu." This, therefore, is intended for a 
philosophical truth, and not for a figure, as when Pindar calls 
" the day" " child of the sun :" 

raW 'AXiov. 01. , ii. 59. 

2 Jfone.] Because, as has been before said, the shepherds 
are become wolves. 

3 Before the date.] " Before many ages are past ; before 
those fractions, which are dropped in the reckoning of every 
year, shall amount to so large a portion of time, that January 
shall be no more a winter month." By this periphrasis is 
meant M in a short time ;" as we say familiarly, such a thing 
will happen before a thousand years are over, when we mean, 
it will happen soon. Thus Petrarch: — 

Ben sa ch' il prova, e fiati cosa piana 

Anzi mill' anni. Trionfo d\1morc, cap. i. 

4 Fortune shall be fain.] The commentators, in general, 
suppose, that our Poet here augurs that great reform, which 
.ie vainly hoped would follow on the arrival of the Emperoi 
Henry VII. in Italy. Lombardi refers the prognostication 



544 THE VISION. 136-133 

To turn the poop, where she hath now the prow ; 
So that the fleet run onward : and true fruit, 
Expected long, shall crown at last the bloom." 



CANTO XXVIII. 



ARGUMENT. 

Still in the ninth heaven, our Poet is permitted to behold th« 
divine essence ; and then sees, in three hierarchies, the 
nine choirs of angels. Beatrice clears some difficulties 
which occur to him on this occasion. 

So she, who doth imparadise my soul, 
Had drawn the veil from off our present life, 
And bared the truth of poor mortality : 
When lo ! as one who, in a mirror, spies 
The shining of a flambeau at his back, 
Lit sudden ere he deem of its approach, 
And turneth to resolve him, if the glass 
Have told him true, and sees the record faithful 
As note is to its metre ; even thus, 
I well remember, did befall to me, 
Looking upon the beauteous eyes, whence love 
Had made the leash to take me. As I turn'd ; 
And that which none, who in that volume 1 looks, 
Can miss of, in itself apparent, struck 
My view ; a point I saw, that darted light 
So sharp, no lid, unclosing, may bear up 
Against its keenness. The least star we ken 
From hence, had seem'd a moon : set by its side, 
As star by side of star. And so far off, 
Perchance, as is the halo from the light 
Which paints it, when most dense the vapor spreads . 
There wheel'd about the point a circle of fire, 
.More rapid than the motion which surrounds, 
Speediest, the world. Another this enring'd ; 
And that a third ; the third a fourth, and that 
A fifth encompass'd ; which a sixth next bound ; 
And over this, a seventh, following, reach 1 d 
Circumference so ample, that its bow, 

Can Grande della Scala: and when we consider that this 
Canto was not finished till after the death of Henry, as ap 
pears from the mention that is made of John XXII.. it cannot 
be denied but the conjecture is probable. Troya (Veltro Ai 
legorico, p 166) suggests Matteo Visconti, or Castruccio Cas 
tracani, as the expected reformer. 

1 That volume.] The ninth heaven ■ as Velltitello, I thinfc, 
rightly interprets It 



29-54. PARADISE, Canto XXVIII. 545 

Within the span of Juno's messenger, 
Had scarce been held entire. Beyond the se\ enth, 
Ensued yet other two. And every one, 
As more in number distant from the first, 
Was tardier in motion : and that glow'd 
With flame most pure, that to the sparkle of truth, 
Was nearest ; as partaking most, methinks, 
Of its reality. The guide beloved 
Saw me in anxious thought suspense, and spake : 
(i Heaven, and all nature, hangs upon that point l 
The circle thereto most conjoih'd observe ; 
And know, that by intenser love its course 
Is, to this swiftness, wing'd." To whom I thus : 
" It were enough : nor should I further seek, 
Had I but wituess'd order, in the world 
Appointed, such as in these wheels is seen. 
But in the sensible world such difference" is, 
That in each round shows more divinity, 
As each is wider from the centre. Hence, 
If in this wondrous and angelic temple, 
That hath, for confine, only light and love, 
My wish may have completion, I must know, 
Wherefore such disagreement is between 
The exemplar and its copy : for myself, 
Contemplating, I fail to pierce the cause." 
" It is no marvel, if thy fingers foil'd 



1 Heaven, and alt nature, hangs upon that point.] ex roiai* 
rrjs \pa dpxni ^prrjrat b oopaibg ical t) (pucrig. Aristot. J\Ietaph., 
lib. xii. c. 7. ••From that beginning depend heaven and'na 
ture." 

2 Suck difference.] The material world and the intelli<ren- 
tial (the copy and the pattern) appear to Dante to differ in 
this respect, that the orbits of the latter are more swift, the 
nearer they are to the centre, whereas the contrary is the 
case with the orbits of the former. The seeming contradic- 
tion is thus accounted for bv Beatrice. In the material 
world, the more ample the body is, the greater is the good, 
of which it is capable ; supposing all the parts to be equally 
perfect. But in the inteliigential world, the circles are 
more excellent and powerful, the more they approximate to 
the central point, which is God. Thus the first circle, that 
of the seraphim, corresponds to the ninth sphere, or primum 
mobiie ; the second, that of the cherubim, to the eighth 
sphere, or heaven of fixed stars; the third, or circle of 
thrones, to the seventh sphere, or planet of Saturn ; and in 
like manner throughout the twe other trines of circles and 
spheres. 

In orbs 

Of circuit ii. expressible they stood. 

Orb within )rb. Milton, P L. % b. v 596. 



540 THE VISION. 55-03 

Do leave the knot untied : so hard 'tis grown 

For want of tenting." Thus she said : " But take/ 

She added, " if thou wish thy cure, my words, 

And entertain them subtly. Every orb, 

Corporeal, doth proportion its extent 

Unto the virtue through its parts diffused. 

The greater blessedness preserves the more. 

The greater is the body (if all parts 

Share equally) the more is to preserve. 

Therefore the circle, whose swift course enwheeis 

The universal frame, answers to that 

Which is supreme in knowledge and in love. 

Thus by the virtue, not the seeming breadth 

Of substance, measuring, thou shalt see the heaven^ 

Each to the intelligence that ruleth it, 

Greater to more, and smaller unto less, 

Suited in strict and wondrous harmony." 

As when the north 1 blows from his milder che^k 
A blast, that scours the sky, forthwith our air, 
Clear'd of the rack that hung on it before, 
Glitters ; and, with his beauties all unveil'd, 
The firmament looks forth serene, and smiles: 
Such was my cheer, when Beatrice drove 
With clear reply the shadows back, and truth 
Was manifested, as a star in heaven. 
And when the words were ended, not unlike 
To iron in the furnace, every cirque, 
Ebullient, shot forth scintillating fires : 
And every sparkle shivering to new blaze, 
In number 2 did out-million the account 
Reduplicate upon the checker'd board. 
Then heard I echoing on, from choir to choir, 
" Hosanna," to the fixed point, that holds, 
And shall for ever hold them to 'their place, 
From everlasting, irremovable. 

Musing awhile I stood : and she, who saw 
My inward meditations, thus began : 
" In the first circles, they, whom thou beheld ? st 
Are seraphim and cherubim. Thus swift 

1 The north.] By "ond' e piu leno," some understand 
that point from whence " the wind is mildest;'''' others, that 
"in which there is most forced The former interpretation 
is probably right. 

2 In number.} The sparkles exceeded the number whkfe 
would be produced by the sixty-four squares of a chess- 
Doard, if for the first we reckoned one ; for the next, two ; 
for the thiid, four ; and so went on doubling tolhe end of the 
account. 



94-1-27 PARADISE, Canto XXVIII. 547 

Follow their hoops, in likeness to the point, 

Near as they can, approaching ; and they can 

The more, the loftier their vision. Those, 

That round them fleet, gazing the Godhead next, 

Are thrones ; in whom the first trine ends. And all 

Are blessed, even as their sight descends 

Deeper into the truth, wherein rest is 

For every mind. Thus happiness hath root 

In seeing, not in loving, which of sight 

Is aftergrowth. And of the seeing such 

The meed, as unto each, in due degree, 

Grace and good-will their measure have assign'd. 

The other trine, that with still opening buds 

In this eternal springtide blossom fair, 

Fearless of bruising from the nightly ram, 1 

Breathe up in warbled melodies threefold 

Hosannas, blending ever ; from the three, 

Transmitted, hierarchy of gods, for aye 

Rejoicing ; dominations 2 first ; next them, 

Virtues ; and powers the third ; the next to whom 

Are princedoms and archangels, with glad round 

To tread their festal ring ; and last, the band 

Angelical, disporting in their sphere. 

All, as they circle in their orders, look 

Aloft ; and, downward, with such sway prevail, 

That all with mutual impulse tend to God. 

These once a mortal view beheld. Desire, 

In Dionysius, 3 so intensely wrought, 

That he, as I have done, ranged them ; and named 

Their orders, marshall'd in his thought. From him. 

Dissentient, one refused his sacred read. 

But soon as in this heaven his doubting eyes 

Were open'd, Gregory 4 at his error smiled. 

Nor marvel, that a denizen of earth 



1 Fearless of bruising- from the nightly ram.] Not injured, 
like the productions of our spring, by the influence of au- 
tumn, when the constellation Aries rises at sunset. 

2 Dominations.] 

Hear all ye angels, progeny of light, 

Thrones, dominations, princedoms, virtues, powers. 

Milton, P. L., b. v. 601. 

3 Dionysius.] The Areopagite, in his book de Coelesti 
Hierarchia. 

4 Gregory.] Gregory the Great " Novem vero angelorum 
ordines diximu^ ; quia videlicet esse, testante sacro eloquio, 
scimus : Angelos, archangelos, virtutes, potestates, principa- 
lis, dominationes, thronos, cherubin atque seraphin." Divi 
Ore^orii, Horn xxxiv. f. 125, ed. Par. 1518, foL 



548 THE VISION. 128-13T. 

Should scan such secret truth ; for he had iearn'd 1 
Both this and mum beside of these our orbs, 
From an eye-witness to heaven's mysteries" 

CANTO XXIX 

ARGUMENT. 
Beatrice beholds, in the mirror of divine truth, some do\ibt< 

which had entered the mind of Dante. These she revolves; 
and then digresses into a vehement reprehension of cer- 
tain theologians and preachers in those days, whose igno 
ranee or avarice induced them to substitute their own in- 
ventions for the pure word of the Gospel. 

No longer. 2 than what time Latona's twins 
Cover'd of Libra and the fleecy star, 
Together both, girding the horizon hang ; 
In even balance, from the zenith poised ; 
Till from that verge, each, changing hemisphere, 
Part the nice level ; e ? en so brief a space 
Did Beatrice's silence hold. A smile 
Sat painted on her cheek : and her fix'd gaze 
Bent on the point, at which my vision fail'd : 
When thus, her words resuming, she began : 
" I speak, nor what thou wouldst inquire, demand ; 
For I have mark'd it. where all time and place 
Are present. Not for increase to himself 
Of good, which may not be increased, but forth 
To manifest his glory by its beams ; 
Inhabiting his own eternity, 
Beyond time's limit or what bound soe ? er 
To circumscribe his being ; as he wili'd, 
Into new natures, like unto himself, 
Eternal love unfolded: nor before, 

1 He had learn? d.] Dionysius, he says, had learned from St. 

Paul. It is almost "unnecessary to add. that the book, above 
referred to. which goes under his name, was the production 
of a later age. In Bishop Bull's seventh sermon, which treats 
of the different degrees of beatitude in heaven, there is much 
?hat resembles what is said on the same subject by our Poet. 
The learned prelate, however, appears a little inconsistent, 
when, after having blamed Dionysius the Areopagite, "for 
reckoning up exactly the several orders of the angelical hier 
archy. as if he had seen a muster cf the heavenly host before 
his eyes." [v. 1. p. 113,J he himself then speaks' rather more 
particularly of the several orders in the celestial hierarchy 
than he is warranted in doing by holy Scripture. 

> JVfc longer.] As short a space as the sun and moon are 
in changing hemispheres, erhen they are opposite to one an- 
other, the one under the sign of Aries, and the other undei 
that of Libra, and both hang, for a moment, poised as it were 
n the hand of the zenith. 



<l-38 PARADISE, Cantc XXIX. 549 

As if in dull inaction, torpid, lay 

For, not in process of before or aft, 1 

Upon these waters moved the Spirit of God. 

Simple and mix'd, both form and substance, 2 forth 

To perfect being started, like three darts 

Shot from a bow three-corded. And as ray 

In crystal, glass, and amber, shines entire, 

E'en at the moment of its issuing ; thus 

Did, from the eternal Sovereign, beam entire 

His threefold operation, 3 at one act 

Produced coeval. Yet, in order, each 

Created his due station knew : those highest, 

Who pure intelligence were made ; mere power, 

The lowest ; in the midst, bound with strict league, 

Intelligence and power, unseverd bond. 

Long tract of ages by the angels past, 

Ere the creating of another world, 

Described on Jerome's pages, 4 thou hast seen. 

1 For, not in process of before or aft.] There was neithe* 
" before nor alter," no distinction, that is, of time, till the 
creation of the world. 

2 Simple and mix'd, both form and substance.] Simple and 
unmixed form answers to "pure intelligence," v. 33, (puro 
atto,) the highest of created being; simple and unmixed sub 
stance, to "mere power," v. 33, (para potenzia,) the lowest; 
and form mixed with substance, to " intelligence and power," 
v. 35, (potenzia con atto,) that which holds the middle place 
between the other two. This, which appears sufficiently 
plain, Lombardi has contrived to perplex ; not being aware 
of the high sense in which our Poet here and elsewhere 
uses the word " forma," as the Greek writers employed the 
term fiop(pn, and particularly Saint Paul. Philippians, ii. 6 
The following is a remarkable instance in our language : " A 
man, though he have one form already, viz. the natural 
soul ; it hinders not but he may have also another, the 
quickening Spirit of God." Henry More, Disc. xiii. 

3 His threefold operation.] He means that spiritual beings, 
brute matter, and the intermediate part of the creation 
which participates both of spirit and matter, were produced 
at once. 

For, as there are three natures, schoolmen call 

One corporal only, th' other spiritual. 

Like single ; so there is a third commixt 

Of body and spirit together, placed betwixt 

Those other two. Ben Jonson. Eupheme. 

4 On Jerome's pages.] St. Jerome had described the angels 
rs created long before the rest of the universe : an opinion 
which Thomas Aquinas controverted ; and the latter, as 
Dante thinks, had scripture on his side. 

" Sex millia nondum nostri orbis implentur anni ; ct 
quanta? prius asternitates, quanta tempora, quantas ssecu- 
iorum origines fuisse arbitrandum est, in quibus Ange'.i, 
Throni, Dominationes, caeteraeque Virtntes servierint Deo* 



550 THE VISION. 39-a* 

But that what I disclose to thee is true, 
Those penmen, 1 whom the Holy Spirit moved, 
In many a passage of their sacred book, 
Attest ; as thou by diligent search shalt find : 
And reason, 2 in some sort, discerns the same, 
Who scarce would grant the heavenly ministers, 
Of their perfection void, so long a space. 
Thus when and where these spirits of love were made, 
Thou know'st, and how : and, knowing, hast allay'd 
Thy thirst, which from the triple question 3 rosfe. 
Ere one had reckon'd twenty, e'en so soon, 
Part of the angels fell : and, in their fall, 
Confusion to your elements 4 ensued. 
The others kept their station : and this task, 
Whereon thou look'st, began, with such delight, 
That they surcease not ever, day nor night, 
Their circling. Of that fatal lapse the cause 
Was the cursed pride of him, whom thou hast seen 
Pent 5 with the world's incumbrance. Those, whom 
Thou seest, were lowly to confess themselves [here 

et absque temporum vicibus atque mensuris Deo jubente 
substiterint." Hieronym. In Epist. ad Titum. 1. Paris edit. 
1706, torn. iv. part i. p. 411. 

" Dicendum, quod supra hoc invenitur duplex sanctorum 
doctorum sententia, ilia tamen probabilior videtur, quod 
angeli simul cum creatura corporea sunt creati. Angeli 
enim sunt quaedam pars universi. Non enim constituunt 
per se unum universum, sed tarn ipsi quam creatura corpo- 
rea in constitutionem unius universi cosveniunt. Quod ap- 
paret ex ordine unius creaturae ad aliam. Ordo enim reruin 
adinvicem est bonum universi. Nulla autem pars perfecta 
est a suo toto separata. Non est igitur probabile, ut'Deus 
cujus perfecta sunt opera, ut dicitur Deuteron. 32, creaturam 
angelicam seorsum ante alias creaturas creaverit. Quamvis 
contrarium non sit reputandum erroneum, prsecipue propter 
sententiam Greg. Nazian. cujus tanta est in doctrina Chris- 
tiana authoritas, ut mil lus unquam ejus dictis calumniara 
inferre praesmnpserit sicut nee Athanasii Documentis, ut 
Hieron. dicit." Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theolog., P. l m ». 
Quaest. LXI. art. iii. 

1 Those penmen.] As in Genesis, i. 1, and Ecclesiasticus, 
xviii. 1. 

2 Reason.'] The heavenly ministers (motori; would have 
existed to no purpose if they had been created before tha 
corporeal world, which they were to govern. 

8 The triple question.] He had wished to know where, 
when, and how the angels had been created, and these three 
questions had been resolved. 

4 Elements.] Alimenti was sometimes put for elementi, 
by the old Tuscan writers. See the notes to Redi's Bacco in 
Toscana, vol. i. p. 125. Redi. Opere, 8°. Milan, 1809. There is 
therefore no necessity /or the alteration made in some edi 
tions. 

5 Pent.] See Hell, Canto xxxiv 305 



59-lOOt PARADISE, Caxto XXIX. 551 

Of his free bounty, who had made them apt 

For ministries so high : therefore their views 

Were, by enlightening grace and their own msrit, 

Exalted : so that in their will confirm'd 

They stand, nor fear to fall. For do not doubt, 

But to receive the grace, which Heaven vouchsafes! 

Is meritorious, 1 even as the soul 

With prompt affection welcometh tije guest. 

Now, without further help, if with good heed 

My words thy mind have treasured, thou henceforth 

This consistory round about mayst scan, 

And gaze thy fill. But, since thou hast on earth 

Heard vain disputers, reasoners in the schools, 

Canvass the angelic nature, and dispute 

Its powers of apprehension, memory, choice ; B 

Therefore, 'tis well thou take from me the truth, 

Pure and without disguise ; which they below, 

Equivocating, darken and perplex. 

" Know thou, that, from the first, these substances, 
Rejoicing in the countenance of God, 
Have held unceasingly their view, intent 
Upon the glorious vision, from the which 
Naught absent is nor hid : where then no change 
Of newness, with succession, interrupts, 
Remembrance, there, needs none to gather up 
Divided thought and images remote. 

'• So that men, thus at variance with the truth, 
Dream, though their eyes be open ; reckless some 
Of error ; others well aware they err, 
To whom more guilt and shame are justly due. 
Each the known track of sage philosophy 
Deserts, and has a by-way of his own : 
So much the restless eagerness to shine, 
And love of singularity, prevail. 
Yet this, offensive as it is, provokes m 

Heaven's anger less, than when the book of God 
Is forced to yield to man's authority, 
Or from its straightness warp'd: no reckoning mad 
What blood the sowing of it in the world 
Has cost ; what favor for himself he wins, 
Who meekly clings to it. The aim of all 
Is how to shine : e'en they, whose office is 

1 Meritorious.} The collator of the Monte Cassino MS. 
boasts of that being the only text which has " meritorio," 
'' concistorio," and " adjutorio." The reading is probably 
right, but I find it is in Landino's edition of 1484, and Vet 
lutello's of 1544 ; and it may, perhaps, be in many others. 



553 THE VISION. J01 138 

To preach the gospel, let the gospel sleep, 

And pass their own inventions off instead. 

One tells, how at Christ's suffering the wan moor 

Bent back her steps, and shadow'd o'er the sun 

With intervenient disk, as she withdrew : 

Another, how the light shrouded itself 

Within its tabernacle, and left dark 

The Spaniard, and the Indian, with the Jew. 

Such fables Florence in her pulpit hears, 

Bandied about more frequent, than the names 

Of Bindi and of Lapi 1 in her streets. 

The sheep, 2 meanwhile, poor witless ones, returr 

From pasture, fed with wind : and what avails 

For their excuse, they do not see their harm? 

Christ said not to his first conventicle, 

Go forth and preach impostures to the world,' 
But gave them truth 3 to build on ; and the sound 
Was mighty on their lips : nor needed they, 
Beside the Gospel, other spear or shield, 
To aid them in their warfare for the faith. 
The preacher 4 now provides himself with store 
Of jests and gibes : and, so there be no lack 
Of laughter, while he vents them, his big cowl 
Distends, and he has won the meed he sought : 
Could but the vulgar catch a glimpse the while 
Of that dark bird which nestles in his hood, 
They scarce would wait to hear the blessing said, 
Which now the dotards hold in such esteem, 
That every counterfeit, who spreads abroad 
The hands of holy promise, finds a throng 
Of credulous fools beneath. Saint Anthony 
Fattens with this his swine, 5 and others worse 

1 Of Bindi and of Lapi,] Common names of men at Fto 
rence. 

2 The sheep.] So Milton, Lycidas. 

The hungry sheep look up and are not fed, 

But swoln with wind and the rank mist they draw, 

Rot inwardly. 

3 Gave them truth.] " Go ye into all the w r orld, and preach 
the Gospel to every creature." Mark, xvi. 15. 

4 The preacher.] Thus Cowper. Task, b. ii. 

'Tis pitiful 

To court a grin, w T h en you should woo a soul, &l. 
8 Saint Anthony 
Fattens with this his swine.] On the sale of these bless 
Ings, the brothers of St. Anthony supported themselves and 
their paramours. From behind the swine of St. Anthony, 
imr Poet levels a blow at the object of his inveterate enmity, 
Boniface VIII., from whom, "in 1297, they obtained th« 



133-150. PARADISE, Canto XXX. 553 

Than swine, who diet at his lazy board, 
Paying with unstamp'd metal 1 for their fare. 

" But (for we far have wander'd) let us seek 
The forward path again ; so as the way 
Be shorten'd with the time. No mortal tongue, 
Nor thought of man, hath ever reach'd so far, 
That of these natures he might count the tribes. 
What Daniel 2 of their thousands hath reveal'd, 
With finite number, infinite conceals. [beams, 

The fountain, at whose source these drink thei. 
With light supplies them in as many modes, 
As there are splendors that it shines on : each 
According to the virtue it conceives, 
Differing in love and sweet affection. 
Look then how lofty and how huge in breadth 
The eternal might, which, broken and dispersed 
Over such countless mirrors, yet remains 
Whole in itself and one, as at the first." 



CANTO XXX 

ARGUMENT. 

Dante is taken up with Beatrice into the empyrean ; and 
there having his sight strengthened by her aid, and by 
the virtue derived from looking on the river of light, he 
sees the triumph of the angels and of the souls of the 
blessed. 

Noox's fervid hour perchance six thousand miles 
From hence is distant ; and the shadowy cone 
Almost to level on our earth declines ; 
When, from the midmost of this blue abyss, 
By turns some star is to our vision lost. 
And straightway as the handmaid of the sun 
Puts forth her radiant brow, all, light by light, 
Fade ; and the spangled firmament shuts in, 



di^aity and privileges of an independent congregation." See 
Mosheim's Eccles. History, in Dr. Maclaine's Translation, 
v. ii. cent. xi. p. 2, c. 2, § 28. 

1 With unstamp'd metal.} With false indulgences. 

* Daniel.] " Thousand thousands ministered unto him. 



and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him.'' 
Daniel, vii. 10. 

* Six thousand miles.] He compares the vanishing of tha 
vision to the fading away of the stars at dawn, when it is 
noonday six thousand miles ofT, and the shadow, formed by 
the earth over the part of it inhabited by the Poet, is arxul 
to disappear. 






554 THE VISION. fr-40 

E'en to the loveliest of the glittering throng. 
Thus vanish'd gradually from my sight 
The triumph, which plays ever round the point, 
That overcame me, seeming (for it did) 
Engirt 1 by that it girdeth. Wherefore love, 
With loss of other object, forced me bend 
Mine eyes on Beatrice once again. 

If all, that hitherto is told of her, 
Were in one praise concluded, 'twere too weak 
To furnish out this turn. 2 Mine eyes did look 
On beauty, such, as I believe in sooth, 
Not merely to exceed our human ; but, 
That save its Maker, none can to the full 
Enjoy it. At this point o'erpower'd I fail ; 
Unequal to my theme ; as never bard 
Of buskin or of sock hath fail'd before. 
For as the sun doth to the feeblest sight, 
E'en so remembrance of that witching smile 
Hath dispossess'd my spirit of itself. 
Not from that day, when on this earth I first 
Beheld her charms, up to that view of them, 
Have I with song applausive ever ceased 
To follow ; but now follow ttiem no more ; 
My course here bounded, as each artist's is, 
When it doth touch the limit of his skill. 

She, (such as I bequeath her to the bruit 
Of louder trump than mine, which hasteneth on, 
Urging its arduous matter to the close,) 
Her words resumed, in gesture and in voice 
Resembling one accustom'd to command : 
" Forth 3 from the last corporeal are we come 
Into the heaven, that is unbodied light ; 
Light intellectual, replete with love ; 
Love of true happiness, replete with joy ; 
Joy, that transcends all sweetness of delight. 
Here shalt thou look on either mighty host 4 
Of Paradise ; and one in that array, 
Which in the final judgment thou shalt see." 

1 Engirt.'] " Appearing to be encompassed by these an 
gelic bands, which are in reality encompassed by it.'* 

2 This turn.] Questa vice. 

Uence perhaps Milton, P. L., b. viii. 491. 
This turn hath made amends. 

3 Forth.] From the ninth sphere to the empyrean, which 
is mere light. 

4 Either mighty host.] Of angels, that remained faithftil. 
and of beatified souls ; the latter in that form which they 
will have at ths last day. 



47-«3. PARADISE, Canto XXX. 555 

As when the lightning, in a sudden spleen 
Unfolded, dashes from the blinding eyes 
The visive spirits, dazzled and bedimm'd ; 
So, round about me, fulminating streams 
Of living radiance play'd, and left me swath'd 
And veil'd in dense impenetrable blaze. 
Such weal is in the love, that stills this heaven ; 
For its own flame 1 the torch thus fitting ever. 

No sooner to my listening ear had come 
The brief assurance, than I understood 
New virtue into me infused, and sight 
Kindled afresh, with vigor to sustain 
Excess of light however pure. I look'd ; 
And, in the likeness of a river, saw 
Light flowing, 2 from whose amber-seeming waves 
Flash'd up effulgence, as they glided on 
'Twixt banks, on either side, painted with spring, 
Incredible how fair : and, from the tide, 
There ever and anon, outstarting, flew 
Sparkles instinct with life ; and in the flowers 
D. : d set them, like to rubies chased in gold : 
Then, as if drunk with odors, plunged again 
Into the wondrous flood ; from which, as one 
Re-enter'd, still another rose. " The thirst 
Of knowledge high, whereby thou art inflamed, 
To search the meaning of what here thou seest, 
The more it warms thee, pleases me the more. 
But first behooves thee of this water drink, 
Or e'er that longing be allay 'd." So spake 
The daystar of mine eyes : then thus subjoin'd : 
11 This stream ; and these, forth issuing from its gull, 
And diving back, a living topaz each ; 
With all this laughter on its bloomy shores , 
Are but a preface, shadowy of the truth 3 
They emblem : not that, in themselves, the things 
Are crude ; but on thy part is the defect, 
For that thy views not yet aspire so high." 

1 For its own flame.] Thus disposing the spirits to receive 
its own beatific light. 

a Light flowing.] " And he shewed me a pure river of 
water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throna 
>f God and of the Lamb." Rev. xxii. 1. 
Underneath a bright sea flow'd 
Of jasper or of liquid pearl. 

Milton, P. L. y b. ill 518- 
* Shadowy of the truth.] 

Son di lor vero ombriferi prefazii. 

60 Mr. Coleridge, in his Religious Musings, v. 402 

Life is a vision shadowy of truth. 



556 



THE VISION. 



&-M2R 




Never did babe that had outslept nis wont, 
Rush, with such eager straining, to the milk. 
As I toward the water ; bending me, 
To make the better mirrors of mine eyes 
In the refining wave : and as the eaves 
Of mine eyelids 1 did drink of it, forthwith 
Seem'd it unto me turn'd from length to round. 
Then as a troop of maskers, when they put 
Their visors off, look other than before ; 
The counterfeited semblance thrown aside • 
So into greater jubilee were changed 
Those flowers and sparkles ; and distinct I saw, 
Before me, either court 2 of heaven display 'd. 

O prune enlightener ! thou who gavest me strength 
On the high triumph of thy realm to gaze ; 
Grant virtue now to utter what I kenn'd. 

There is in heaven a light, whose goodly shine 
Makes the Creator visible to all 
Created, that in seeing him alone 
Have peace ; and in a circle spreads so far, 
That the circumference were too loose a zone 
To girdle in the sun. All is one beam, 
Reflected from the summit of the first, 
That moves, which being hence and vigor takeg. 
And as some cliff, 3 that trom the bottom eyes 
His image mirror'd in the crystal flood, 
As if to admire his brave apparelling 
Of verdure and of flowers ; so, round about, 
Eying the light, on more than million thrones, 
Stood, eminent, whatever from our earth 
Has to the skies return'd. How wide the leaves, 
Extended to their utmost, of this rose, 
Whose lowest step embosoms such a space 
Of ample radiance ! Yet, nor amplitude 
Nor height impeded, but my view with ease 4 
Took in the full dimensions of that joy. 
Near or remote, what there avails, where God 

1 the eaves 

Of mine eyelids.'] Thus Shakspeare calls the eyelid* 
' penthouse lids." Macbeth, act i. sc. 3. 
2 Either court.] See Note to v. 44. 

s As some cliff.] A lake, 

That to the fringed bank with myrtle crown' d 
Her crystal mirror holds. 

Milton, P. L., b. iv. 263 
* My view with ease.] 

Far and wide his eye commands ; 

For sight no obstacle found here, nor shade, 
But all sunshine. Ibid. b. iii. 6±t>. 



121-146. PARADISE, Canto XXXI. Ml 

Immediate rules, and Nature, awed, suspends 
Her sway 1 Into the yellow of the rose 
Perennial, which, in bright expansiveness, 
Lays forth its gradual blooming, redolent 
Of praises to the never- wintering sun, 
As one, who fain would speak, yet holds his peace, 
Beatrice led me ; and, " Behold," she said, 
" This fair assemblage ; stoles of snowy white, 
How numberless. The city, where we dwell, 
Behold how vast ; and these our seats so thrwigM, 
Few now are wanting here. In that proud stall,* 
On which, the crown, already o'er its state 
Suspended, holds thine eyes — or e'er thyself 
Mayst at the wedding sup, — shall rest the soul 
Of the great Harry, 2 he who, by the world 
Augustus haiFd, to Italy must come, 
Before her day be ripe. But ye are sick, 
And in your tetchy wantonness as blind, 
As is the bantling, that of hunger dies, 
And drives away the nurse. Nor may it be, 
That he, 3 who in the sacred forum sways, 
Openly or in secret, shall with him 
Accordant walk : whom God will not endure 
P trie holy office long ; but thrust him down 
To Simon Magus, where Alagna's priest 4 
Will sink beneath him : such will be his meed." 



CANTO XXXI 

ARGUMENT. 
The Poet expatiates further on the glorious vision described 

1 In that proud stall.] " Ostenditque mihi circa Paradisum 
lectum Claris et splendidissimis operimentis adornatum — in quo 
lecto quendam jacere conspexi cujus noraen ab Apostolo au- 
divi, sed prohibuit ne cui illud dicerem." Alberici Visio, § 31. 

2 Of the great Harry.] The Emperor Henry VII., who died 
in 13i3. u Henry, Count of Luxemburgh, held the imperial 
power three years, seven months, and eighteen days, from his 
rirst coronation to his death. He was a man wise, and just, 
and gracious ; brave and intrepid in arms ; a man of honor, 
and a good Catholic ; and although by his lineage he vi as of 
no great condition, yet he was of a magnanimous heart, 
much feared and held in awe ; and if he had lived longer, 
would have done the greatest things." G. Villani, lib. ix. 
eap. 1. Compare Dino Compagni, Muratori, Rer. Ital. Script., 
torn. ix. lib. iii. p. 524, and Fazio degli Uberti, Dittamonda 
h. il. cap. 30. 

* He.] Pope Clement V. See Canto xxvii. 53. 

* Alagna's priest.} Pope Boniface VIII Hell Canto xii. 79 



$58 THE VISION. 1-08 

In the last Canto. On looking round for Beatrice, he finds 
that she has left him, and that an old man is at his side, 
This proves to be Saint Bernard, who shows him that Be- 
atrice has returned to her throne, and then points cut to 
him the blessedness of the Virgin Mother. 

In fashion, as a snow-white rose, lay then 
Before my view the saintly multitude, 1 [while v 

Which in his own blood Christ espoused. Mean- 
That other host, 2 that soar aloft to gaze 
And celebrate his glory, whom they love, 
Hoverd around ; and, like a troop of bees, 3 
Amid the vernal sweets alighting now, 
Xow, clustering, where their fragrant labor glows, 
Flew downward to the mighty flower, or rose 
From the redundant petals, streaming back 
Unto the steadfast dwelling of their joy. 
Faces had they of flame, and wings of gold ; 4 
The rest was winter than the driven snow ; 
And, as they flitted down into the flower, 
From range to range, fanning their plumy loins, 
Whisper'd the peace and ardor, which they won 
From that soft winnowing. Shadow none, the vast 
Interposition of such numerous flight 
Cast, from above, upon the flower, or view 
Obstructed aught. For, through the universe, 
Wherever merited, celestial light 
Glides freely, and no obstacle prevents. 

All there, who reign in safety and in bliss : 
Ages long past or new, on one sole mark 
Their love and vision fix'd. O trinal beam 
Of individual star, that charm'st them thus ! 
Vouchsafe one glance to gild our storm below. 5 

If the grim brood, 6 from Arctic shores that roam'd, 



1 The saintly multitude.] Human souls, advanced to this 
Kate of glory through the mediation of Christ. 

2 That other host.] The angels. 

3 Bees.] Compare Homer, Iliad, ii 87, Virg. iEn., i. 430, 
tnd Milton, P. L., b. i. 768. 

4 f**g* of gold.] 

the middle pair 



Skirted his loins and thighs with downy gold. 

Milton, p:l., b. v. 282. 

5 To gild our storm bcloic] To guide us through the dan 
gers to which we are exposed in this tempestuous life. 

6 If the grim brood.] The northern hordes who invaded 
Rome. Landino justly observes, that " this is a most excel- 

en- comparison to show how great his astonishment was a 
Deho dins the realms of the blest.'' 



29-60. PARADISE, Caato XXXI. 5o9 

(Where Helice 1 for ever, as she wheels, 
Sparkles a mother's fondness on her son,") 
Stood in mute wonder 'mid the works of Rome, 
When to their view the Lateran arose 2 
In greatness more than earthly ; I, who then 
From human to divine had pass'd, from time 
Unto eternity, and out of Florence 
To justice and to truth, how might I choose 
But marvel too ? 'Twixt gladness and amaze, 
In sooth no will had I to utter aught, 
Or hear. A?.d, as a pilgrim, when he rests 
Within the temple of his vow, looks round 
In breathless awe, and hopes some time to tell 
Of all its goodly state ; e'en so mine eyes 
Coursed up and down along the living light, 
Xow low, and now aloft, and now around, 
Visiting every step. Looks I beheld, 
Where charity in soft persuasion sat ; 
Smiles from within, and radiance from above ; 
And, in each gesture, grace and honor high. 

So roved my ken, and in its general form 
All Paradise survey'd : when round I tunvd 
With .purpose of my lady to inquire 
Once more of things, that held my thought suspense, 
But answer found from other than I ween'd ; 
For, Beatrice when I thought to see, 
I saw instead a senior, at my side, 
Robed, as the rest, in glory. Joy benign 
Glow'd in his eye, and o'er his cheek diffused, 
With gestures such as spake a fathers love. 
And, " Whither is she vanish'd?" straight I ask'd. 

" By Beatrice summon'd," he replied, 

1 Helice.'] Callisto. and her son Areas, changed into ths 
constellations of the Greater Bear and Arctophylax, or Bootes 
See Ovid, Met., lib. ii. fab. v. vi. 

2 The Lateran arose.] 

quando Laterano 

Alle cose mortali andb di sopra. 
This reminds us of the celebrated passage in Akenside ; 
Mark how the dread Pantheon stands, 
Amid the domes of modern hands. 

Ode xviii. b. i. 
It is remarkable that Dante has no allusion to the magnifi- 
cence of Gothic architecture, which was then in so much 
perfection, and which, as Tiraboschi endeavors to show, by a 
passage in Cassiodorus, describing its peculiar character of 
slender columns and lanceated arches, was introduced into 
Italy so early as the end of the fifth century See Stor. della 
'uetk Ital., torn. hi. lib. i. 



560 THEVISIOIN. 61-93 

fi I come to aid thy wish. Looking aloft 
1 o the third circle from the highest, there 
Behold her on the throne, wherein her merit 
Hath placed her." Answering not, mine eyeg I 

raised, 
And saw her, where aloof she sat, her brow 
A wreath reflecting of eternal beams. 
Not from the centre of the sea so far 
Unto the region of the highest thunder, 
As was my ken from hers ; and yet the form 
Came through that medium down, anmix'd and 
pure. 

" O lady ! thou in whom my hopes have rest ; 
Who, for my safety, hast not scorn'd, in hell 
To leave the traces of thy footsteps mark'd ; 
For all mine eyes have seen, I to thy power 
And goodness, virtue owe and grace. Of slave 
Thou hast to freedom brought me : and no means. 
For my deliverance apt, hast left untried. 
Thy liberal bounty still toward me keep : 
That, when my spirit, which thou madest whole, 
Is loosen' d from this body, it may find 
Favor with thee." So I my suit preferr'd : 
And she, so distant, as appear'd, look'd down, 
And smiled ; then towards the eternal fountain turned. 

And thus the senior, holy and revered :. 
" That thou at length mayst happily conclude 
Thy voyage, (to which end I was dispatch'd, 
By supplication moved and holy love,) 
Let thy upsoaring vision range, at large, 
This garden through : for so, by ray divine 
Kindled, thy ken a higher flight shall mount ; 
And from heaven's queen, whom fervent I adore, 
All gracious aid befriend us ; for that I 
Am her own faithful Bernard." 1 Like a wight, 

i Bernard.] St. Bernard, the venerable abbot of Clairvaux, 
and the great promoter of the second crusade, who died A. D. 
1153, in his sixty third year. His sermons are called by 
Henault " chefs-d'ceuvres de sentiment et de force." Abrege 
Chron. de VHist. de Fr., 1145. They have even been preferred 
to all the productions of the ancients, and the author has 
been termed the last of the fathers of the church. It is un- 
certain whether they were not delivered originally in the 
French tongue. Ibid. 

That the part he acts in the present poem should be as- 
signed to him, appears somewhat remarkable, when we con- 
lider that he severely censured the sew festival established 
in honor of the immaculate Conception of the Virgin, an J 
"onposed the doctrine itself with the greatest vigor, as il 



M-118. PARADISE, Canto XXXI. 561 

Who haply from Croatia wends to see 

Our Veronica ; x and, the while 'tis shown 

Hangs over it with never-sated gaze, 

And, all that he hath heard revolving, saith 

Unto himself in thought : " And didst thou look 

E'en thus, O Jesus, my true Lord and God ? 

And was this semblance thine I" So gazed I then 

Adoring ; for the charity of him, 2 

Who musing, in this world that peace enjoy ? d, 

Slood livelily before me. " Child of grace !" 

Thus he began : " thou shalt not knowledge gain 

Of this glad being, if thine eyes are held 

Still in this depth below. But search around 

The circles, to the furthest, till thou spy 

Seated in state, the queen, 3 that of this realm 

Is sovereign.'*' Straight mine eyes I raised ; and bright 

As, at the birth of morn, the eastern clime 

Above the horizon, where the sun declines ; 

So to mine eyes, that upward, as from vale 

To mountain sped, at the extreme bound, a part 

Excell'd in lustre all the front opposed. 

And as the glow burns ruddiest o'er the wave, 

That waits the ascending team, which Phaeton 

III knew to guide, and on each part the light 

Diminish'd fades, intensest in the midst ; 

supposed her being honored with a privilege which belonged 
to Christ alone." Br. CSIaclaine's Slosheim, vol. iii. cent xii. 
part ii. c. iii. § 19. 

1 Our Veronica.] 

A vernicle had he sewed upon his cappe. 

Chaucer, Prol. to the Canterbury Tales. 

" Vernicle, diminutive of Veronike, Fr. A copy in minia- 
ture of the picture of Christ, which is supposed to have been 
miraculously imprinted upon a handkerchief preserved in 
the church of St. Peter at Rome. Du Cange in v. Veronica 
Madox, Form. Angl. 1. p. 428, Testam. Joh. de Xevill. an. 
1386. Item Domino Archiepiscopo Eborum fratri meo, ves- 
tinientuni rubeum de velvet cum le verouike (r. Veronike) 
in granis rosarum de super Brondata, (r. broudata.) It was 
usual for persons returning from pilgrimages, to bring with 
them certain tokens of the several places which they had 
visited; and therefore the Pardoner, who is just arrived from 
Rome, is represented with a vernicle sewed upon his cappe 
See Pierce Plowman, 28 b." Tyrichiifs Glossary to Chaucer. 
Our Poet alludes to this custom in his Vita Nuova, p. 275. 
1 Avvenne in quel tempo," &c. " It happened, at that time, 
2hat many people were going to see that blessed image, which 
testis Christ left to us for a pattern of his most beautiful form, 
Which my lady now beholds in glory.' 1 

a Him.] St. Bernard. 

8 The queen.] The Virgin Mary. 



569 THE VISION n&- m 

So burn'd the peaceful oriflamb, 1 and slack'd 
On even* side the living flame decay'd. 
And in that midst their sportive pennons waved 
Thousands of angels : in resplendence each 
Distinct, and quaint adornment. At their glee 
And carol, smiled the Lovely One of heaven, 
That joy was in the eyes of all the blest. 

Had I a tongue in eloquence as rich, 
As is the coloring in fancy's loom, 
'Twere all too poor to utter the least part 
Of that enchantment. "When he saw mine eyes 
Intent on her, that charnrd him ; Bernard gazed 
With so exceeding foodness, as infused 
Ardor into my breast, unfelt before. 

CANTO XXXII 

ARGUMENT, 

Saint Bernard shows him, on their several thrones, the othei 
blessed souls, both of the old and new Testament ; ex- 
plains to him that their places are assigned them by 
grace, and not according to merit; and lastly, tells him 
that if he would obtain" power to descry what remained 
of the heavenly vision, he must unite with him in suppll 
cation to Mary. 

Freely the sage, though "wrapt in musings high, 
Assumed the teacher's part, and mild began : 
" The wound, that Mary closed, she 2 open'd first, 
Who sits so beautiful at Mary's feet. 
The third in order, underneath her, lo ! 
Rachel with Beatrice : Sarah next ; 
Judith : Rebecca : and the gleaner-maid, 
.Meek ancestress 3 of him, who sang the songs 
Of sore repentance in his sorrowful mood. 
All, as I name them, down from leaf to leaf, 
Are, in gradation, throned on the rose. 
And from the seventh step, successively, 
Adown the breathing tresses of the flower, 
Still doth the file it Hebrew dames proceed. 
For these are a partition wall, whereby 

i Ortfl-amb.'] Menage on this word quotes the Roman dec 
Royaux Lignages of Guillaume Ghvart. 

Orrlamme est une banniere 

De cendal roujoyant et simple 

Sans portraiture' d'autre affaire. 
« She J Eve. 
1 Ancestress.] Ruth, the ance^l ess of David. 



16-56. PARADISE, Canto XXXII. 5GS 

The sacred stairs are sever'd, as the faith 
In Christ divides them. On this part, where blooms 
Each leaf in full maturity, are set 
Such as in Christ, or e'er he came, believed. 
On the other, where an intersected space 
Yet shows the semicircle void, abide 
All they, who look'd to Christ already come. 
And as our Lady on her glorious stool, 
And they who on their stools beneath her sit, 
This way distinction make ; e'en so on his, 
The mighty Baptist that way marks the line, 
(He who endured the desert, and the pains 
Of martyrdom, and, for two years, 1 of hell, 
Yet still continued holy,) and beneath, 
Augustin ; 2 Francis ; 3 Benedict ; 4 and the rest, 
Thus far from round to round. So heaven's decree 
Forecasts, this garden equally to fill, 
With faith in either view, past or to come, [cleaves 
Learn too, that downward from the step, whici. 
Midway, the twain compartments, none there a*^ 
Who place obtain for merit of their own, 
But have through others' merit been advanced, 
On set conditions ; spirits all released, 
Ere for themselves they had the power to choose. 
And, if thou mark and listen to them well, 
Their childish looks and voice declare as much. 
" Here, silent as thou art, I know thy doubt ; 
And gladly will I loose the knot, wherein [reai.n 
Thy subtile thoughts have bound thee. From this 
Excluded, chance no entrance here may find ; 
No more than hunger, thirst, or sorrow can. 
A law immutable hath stablish'd all ; 
Nor is there aught thou seest, that doth not fit, 
Exactly, as the finger to the ring. 
It is not, therefore, without cause, that these, 
O'erspeedy comers to immortal life, 
Are different in their shares of excellence. 
Our Sovereign Lord, that settleth this estate 
In love and in delight so absolute, 
That wish can dare no further, every soul, 
Created in his joyous sight to dwell, 

i Two years. J The time that elapsed between the death 
of the Baptist and his redemption by the death of Christ. 

2 Augustin.'] Bishop of Hippo, in the fourth century ; the 
celebrated writer who has been men tioned fce fc re, Canto x. 117 

3 Francis.] See Canto xi. 

* Benedict ] See Canto xxii. 



564 



THE VISION. 



h7-8& 



With grace, at pleasure, variously 1 endows. 

And for a proof the effect may w*. 11 suffice. 

And ''tis moreover most expressly mark'd 

In holy scripture, 2 where the twins are said 

To have struggled in the womb. Therefore, as pnmti 

Inweaves the coronet, so every brow 

Weareth its proper hue of orient light. 

And merely in respect to his prime gift. 

Not in reward of meritorious deed, 

Kath each his several degree assign'd. 

In early times with their own innocence 

More was not wanting, than the parents' faith, 

To save them : those first ages pass'd, behooved 

That circumcision hi the males should imp 

The flight of innocent wings : bat since the day 

Of grace hath come, without baptismal rites 

In Christ accomplished, innocence herself 

Must linger yet below. Now raise thy view 

Unto the visage most resembling Christ : 

For, in her splendor only, shalt thou win 

The power to look on him." Forthwith I saw 

Such floods of gladness on her visage shower d, 

From holy spirits, winging that profound ; 

That, whatsoever I had yet beheld, 

Had not so much suspended me with wonder, 

Or shown me such similitude of God. 

And he, who had to her descended, once, 

On earth, now haiFd in heaven : and on poised wing, 

" Ave, Maria, Gratia Plena," sang : 

To whose sweet anthem all the blissful court, 

From all parts answering, rang : that holier joy 

Brooded the deep serene. u Father revered ! 

1 Variously.] There can be no doubt but that "Intra se," 
and not - Entrassi,"' is the right reading at v. 60 of the origi- 
nal. The former seems to have been found in only a few 
MSS. ; but it appears from Landino's notes, that he "had in- 
tended to adopt it ; although Lombardi has been, as fir as 1 
know, the first to admit it into the text. 

2 In holy scripture.] " And the children struggled together 
within her." Gen., xxv. 22. '"When Rebekah^also had con- 
ceived by one, even by our father Isaac ; (for the children 
being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, 
that the promise of God according to election might stand, 
not of works, but of him that calleth ;) it was said unto her, 
The elder shall serve the younger." Rom., ix. 10, ]1 12. Care 
must be taken that the doctrine of election is no pushed 
further than St. Paul appears to have intended by this text, 
which regards the preference of the Jews to the Gentiles, 
and not merely the choice of particular persons, without an} 
respect to merit. 




8^-132. PARADISE, Canto XXXII. 565 

Who doign'st, for me, to quit the pleasant place, 
Wherein thou sittest, by eternal lot ; 
Say, who that angel is, that with such glee 
Beholds our queen, ana so enamor'd glows 
Of her high beauty, that all fire he seems." 

So I again resorted to the lore 
Of my wise teacher, he, whom Mary's charms 
En bellish'd, as the sun the morning star ; 
Who thus in answer spake : " In him are sumin'd, 
Whiite'er of buxomness and free delight 
May be in spirit, or in angel, met : 
And so beseems : for that he bare the palm 
Down unto Mary, when the son of God 
Vouchsafed to clothe him in terrestrial weeds. 
Now let thine eyes wait heedful on my words ; 
And note thou of this just and pious realm 
The chiefest nobles. Those, highest in bliss, 
The twain, on each hand next our empress throned, 
Are as it were two roots unto this rose : 
He to the left, the parent, whose rash taste 
Proves bitter to his seed ; and, on the right, 
That ancient father of the holy church, 
Into whose keeping Christ did give the keys 
Of this sweet flower ; near whom behold the seer, 1 
That, ere he died, saw all the grievous times 
Of the fair bride, who with the lance and nails 
Was won. And, near unto the other, rests 
The leader, under whom, on manna, fed 
The ungrateful nation, fickle and perverse. 
On the other part, facing to Peter, lo ! 
Where Anna sits, so well content to look 
On her loved daughter, that with moveless eye 
She chants the loud hosanna : while, opposed 
To the first father of your mortal kind, 
Is Lucia, 2 at whose hest thy lady sped, 
When on the edge of ruin closed thine eye. 

" But (for the vision hasteneth to an end) 
Here break we off, as the good workman doth, 
That shapes the cloak according to the cloth ; 
And to the primal love our ken shall rise ; 
That thou mayst penetrate the brightness, fsr 
As sight can bear thee. Yet, alas ! in sooth 
Beating thy pennons, thinking to advance, [gain'd 
Thou backward fall'st. Grace then must first bfl 

* The seer.] St. John. 

* Lucia.] See Hell, Canto 1. 97, and Purgatory, ix. 50. 

48 






56G THE VISION. .33-136 

Her grace, whose might con help thee. Thou it 

prayer 
Seek her: and. with affection, while I sue. 
Attend, and yield me ail thy heart.' 5 He said ; 
And thus the saintly orison be^an. 



CAXTO XXXIII. 



ARGUMENT. 

Saint Bernard 5Uj:\ a:a:es the Virjir. Mar/ a: Dante may 



•'• virgin mother, 1 daughter of thy Son! 

Surpassing, as in height above them all; 

Term by the eternal couus:-! :.. . 

Ennobler of thy nature, s:> advanced 

In thee, that its great JVfakei did not scorn, 

1 virgin mother.] 

Thou maide and mother daughter of thy son, 

Thou wel of mercy, sinful swales 

In whom that God of bountee chees : : v n ; 

Thou humble and high over err; creature, 

Thou nobledest so far forth our nature. 

That no disdaine the maker had of kinde 

His sc n in blood and flesh to clothe and winde. 

Within the cloistre blisful of thy sides 
Toke niannes shape the eternal love and pees, 
That of the trine compas Lord and guide is, 
Whom erthe, and sea, and heven out of rellees 
Ay herien ; and thou virgin wemmeles 
Bare of thy body (and dweltest maiden pure) 
The Creatour of every creature. 

Assembled in thee magnificence 
With mercy, goodness, and with such pitee, 
That thou that art the sunne of excellence 
X:: ■: ::".y hea. es: hem that praise:: thee. 
But oftentime of thy benignitee 
a a free! that men thin helpe besech . 

Thou goest beforne, and art hir lives leche. 

C : :iu-:-:r. T'.i Sec: ::J X:-\::-:s Tile, 
In the stanza preceding these. CL tS to St. Bef 

lard's writings. 

And thou that art floure of virgins all. 

Of whom that Bernard li-t so well :: write 



7-35. PARADISE, Canto XX A' III. 56*7 

To make himself his own creation j 1 

For in thy womb rekindling shone the love 

Reveal'd, whose genial influence makes now 

This flower to germin in eternal peace . 

Here thou to us, of charity and love, 

Art, as the noonday torch ; and art, beneath, 

To mortal men, of hope a living spring. 

So mighty art thou, lady, and so great, 

That he, who grace desireth, and comes not 

To thee for aidance, fain would have desire* 

Fly without wings. Not only him, who asks, 

Thy bounty succors ; but doth freely oft 

Forerun the asking. Whatsoe'er may be 

Of excellence in creature, pity mild, 

Relenting mercy, large munificence, 

Are all combined in thee. Here kneeleth one, 

Who of all spirits hath review'd the state, 

From the world's lowest gap unto this height. 

Suppliant to thee he kneels, imploring grace 

For virtue yet more high, to lift his ken 

Toward the bliss supreme. And I, who ne'er 

Coveted sight, more fondly, for myself, 

Than now for him, my prayers to thee prefer, 

(And pray they be not scant,) that thou wouldst drive 

Each cloud of his mortality away, [joy 

Through thine own prayers, 3 that on the sovereign 

Unveil'd he gaze. This yet, I pray thee, Queen, 

Who canst do what thou wilt ; that in him thou 

Wouldst, after all he hath beheld, preserve 

1 To make himself his oicn creation.] 
Nan si sdegnb di farsi sua fattura. 
I had translated this line, 

Himself in his own work enclosed to dwell, 
and have corrected it at the suggestion of my friend, the 
Rev. William Digby, who points out a parallel passage in 
Bishop Hopkins, on" the Lord's Prayer. Ed. 1692, p. 190. "In 
Him omnipotence became weak ; eternity, mortal ; inno- 
cence itself, guilty; God, man; the creator, a creature; the 
maker of all, his own workmanship." 
8 Desire.] 

Lo his desire woll flie withouten winges. 

Chaucer, Troilus and Cresseide, lib. iiL 
Che '1 desideTio sempre move Tale 
Dietro all' oggetto della mente appreso. 

Frezzi, II Qvddrir, lib. lii. cap. 3. 
8 Through thine own p~ ay ers.] Here again 1 am indebted 
to Mr. Digby for noticing the omission of " co' prieghi tuoi' 
in my former translation of the passage which stood thus : 
That on the sovereign pleasure he may gaze. 
This also I entreat of thee, O queen- 



568 THE VISION. 36-71 

Affection sound, and human passions quell 

Lo ! where, witli Beatrice, many a saint [suit. ' 

Stretch their clasp'd hands, in furtherance of my 

The eyes, that heaven with love and awe regards, 
Fix'd on the suitor, witness'd, how benign 
She looks on pious prayers : then fasten'd they 
On the everlasting light, wherein no eye 
Of creature, as may well be thought, so far 
Can travel inward. I, meanwhile, who drew 
Near to the limit, where all wishes end, 
The ardor of my wish (for so behooved) 
Ended within me. Beckoning smiled the sage, 
That I should look aloft : but, ere he bade, 
Already of myself aloft I look'd ; 
For visual strength, refining more and more, 
Bare me into the ray authentic al 
Of sovereign light. Thenceforward, what I saw, 
Was not for words to speak, nor memory's self 
To stand against such outrage on her skill. 

As one, who from a dream awaken'd, straight, 
All he hath seen forgets ; yet still retains 
Impression of the feeling in his dream ; 
E'en such am I : for all the vision dies, 
As 'twere, away ; and yet the sense of sweet, 
That sprang from it, still trickles in my heart. 
Thus in the sun-thaw is the snow unseal'd ; 
Thus in the winds on flitting leaves was lost 
The Sibyl's sentence. 1 O eternal beam ! [soar 1} 
(Whose height what reach of mortal thought mat 
Yield me again some little particle 
Of what thou then appearedst ; give my tongue 
Power, but to leave one sparkle of thy glory, 
Unto the race to come, that shall not lose 
Thy triumph wholly, if thou waken aught 
Of memory in me, and endure to hear 
The record sound in this unequal strain. 

Such keenness 2 from the living ray I met, 
That, if mine eyes had turn'd away, methinks, 
I had been lost ; but, so embolden'd, on 
I pasfl'd, as I remember, till my view 
Hover'd the brink of dread infinitude. 

grace, unenvying of thy boon ! that gavest 

1 The Sibyl's sentence.] Virg. ^En., iii. 445. 

Such keenness.] 

th' air 

No where so clear, sharpen'd his visual ray, 

To objects distant far. Milton, P. L., b. iii. 9&1* 



78-104. PARADISE, Canto XXXIII. 56li 

Boldness to fix so earnestly my ken 

On the everlasting splendor, that I look'd, 

While sight was unconsumed ; and, in that depth. 

Saw in one volume clasp'd of love, whate'er 

The universe unfolds ; all properties 1 

Of substance and of accident, beheld. 

Compounded, yet one individual light 

The whole. And of such bond methinks I saw 

The universal foim ; for that whene'er 

I do but speak of it, my soul dilates 

Beyond her proper self ; and, till I speak, 

One moment 2 neems a longer lethargy, 

Than five-and-twenty ages had appear'd 

To that emprize, that first made Neptune wonder 

At Argo's shadow 3 darkening on his flood. 

With fixed heed, suspense and motionless, 
Wondering I gazed ; and admiration still 
Was kindled as I gazed. It may not be, 
That one;, who looks upon that light, can turn 
To other object, willingly, his view. 
For all the good, that will may covet, there 
Is summ'd ; and all, elsewhere defective found, 
Complete. My tongue shall utter now, no more 
E'en what remembrance keeps, than could the babe'n, 
That yet is moisten'd at his mother's breast. 
Not that the semblance of the living light 
Was changed (that ever as at first remain'd) 

1 Ml properties.] Thus in the Parmenides of Plato, it is 
argued that aL ronceivable quantities and qualities, however 
contradictory, are necessarily inherent in our idea of a uni- 
verse or unity. 

2 One moment.] " A moment seems to me more tedious, 
than five-and-twenty ages would have appeared to the Argo- 
nauts, when they had resolved on their expedition." Lorn- 
bardi proposes a new interpretation of this difficult passage, 
and would understand our aut ior to say that "one moment 
elapsed after the vision, occasioned a greater forgetfulness of 
what he had seen, than the five-and-twenty centuries, which 
passed between the Argonautic expedition and the time of his 
writing this poem, had caused oblivion of the circumstances 
attendant on that event." 

i Argo's shadow.] 

Quae simul ac rostio ventosum proscidit aequo? 
Tortaque remigio spumis incanduit unda, 
Emerseri fsri candenti e gurgite vultus 
iEquoreae monstrum Xere'ides admirantes. 

Catullus, De Xupt. Pel st Thet, 15 

The wondred Argo, which in wondrous piece 
Fir3t through the Enxine seas bore all the flower of Greece. 
Spenser Faei Queen, b. ii. c. 12, St. 44 



570 THE VISION. 105-lss 

But that my visicn quickening, in that solo 
Appearance, still new miracles descried, 
And toii'd me with the change. In that abyss 
Of radiance, clear and lofty, seem'd, methought, 
Three orbs of triple hue, clipp'd in one bound: 1 
And, from another, one reflected seem'd, 
As rainbow is from rainbow : and the third 
Seem'd fire, breathed equally from both. O speech 
How feeble and how faint art thou, to give 
Conception birth. Yet this to what I saw 
Is less than little. 2 O eternal light ! 
Sole in thyself that dwell'st ; and of thyself 
Sole understood, past, present, or to come ; 
Thou smiledst, 3 on that circling, 4 which in thee 
Seem'd as reflected splendor, while I mused ; 
For I therein, methought, in its own hue 
Beheld our image painted : steadfastly 
I therefore pored upon the view. As one, 
Who versed in geometric lore, would fain 
Measure the circle ; and, though pondering long 
And deeply, that beginning, which he needs, 
Finds not : e'en such was I, intent to scan 
The novel wonder, and trace out the form, 
How to the circle fitted, and therein 
How placed : but the flight was not for my wing ; 
Had not a flash darted athwart my mind, 
And, in the spleen, unfolded what it sought. 

Here vigor fail'd the towering fantasy : 
But yet the will roll'd onward, like a wheel 
In even motion, by the love impell'd, 
That moves the sun in heaven and all the stars. 

1 Three orbs of triple hue, clipped in one bound.] The Trinity 
This passage may be compared to what Plato, in his second 
Epistle, enigmatically says of a first, second, and third, and of 
the impossibility that the human soul should attain to what 
it desires to know of them, by means of any thing akin to 
itself 

2 Less than little.] 

Che '1 pavon vi parrebbe men che poco. 

Fazio degli Uberti, Dittamondo, I. n. cap. 5. 

3 Thou smiledst.] Some MSS. and editions instead of " in- 
Itendente te a me arridi," have " intendente te ami ed arridi," 
"who, understanding thyself, lovest and enjoyest thyself ;" 
which Lombardi thinks much preferable. 

4 That circling.] The second of the circles, " Light of 
Light," in which he dimly beheld the mystery of the inca** 
Ration. 

THE END. 



INDEX OF PROPER NAMES, 

EITHER EXPRESSLY MENTIONED, OR SUPPOSED TO JR 
DEFERRED TO, IN THE PRECEDING POEM. 



Abbagliato, H. xxix. 129. 
Abbati, Par. xvi. 109. 
Abbati degli, Bocca. H. 

xxxii. 105. 
Abbati degli, Buoso. H. xxv. 

131. 
Abel, H. iv. 53. 
Abraham, H. iv. 55. 
Absalom, H. xxviii. 132. 
Abydos, Purg. xxviii. 74. 
Accorso, H. xv. 110. 
Accorso d', Francesco, H. 

xv. 111. 
Achan, Purg. xx. 107. 
Acheron, H. iii. 72 ; xiv. 

111. Purg. ii. 100. 
Achilles, H. v. 05 ; xii. 68 

xxvi. 63; xxxi. 4. Purg. 

ix. 32 ; xxi. 93. 
Acone, Par. xvi. 64. 
Acquacheta, H. xvi. 97. 
Acquasparta, Par. xii. 115. 
Acre, H. xxvii. 84. 
Adam, H. iii. 107; iv. 52. 

Purg. ix. 9 ; xi 45 ; xxix. 

°A; xxxii. 37; xxxiii. 62. 

Kir. vii. 22; xiii. 34, 77; 

xxvi. 82, 100; xxxii. 108, 

122. 
Adamo of Brescia, H. xxx. 

60, 103. 
Adice, H. xii. 4. Purg. xvi. 

117. Par. ix. 44. 
Adimari, Par. xvi. 113. 
Adrian v., Purg. xix. 97. 
Adriatic, Par. xxi. 114. 
^Egina, H. xxix. 58. 
^Eneas, H. ii. 34; iv. 119; 

xxvi. 62, 92. Purg. xviii. 

135; xxi. 98. Par. vi. 3; 

xv. 26. 
ZEsop, H. xxiii. 5. 
SCthiop, Purg. xxvi. 18. 

Par. xix. 108. 



Africanus. See Scipio. 
Agamemnon, Par. v. 69. 
Agapete I., Par. vi. 16. 
Agatho, Purg. xxii. 105. 
Aghinulfo of Romena, H 

xxx. 76. 
Aglauros, Purg. xiv. 142. 
Agnello. See Brunelles* 

chi. 
Agobbio, Purg. xi. 80. 
Agobbio d', Oderigi, Purg. 

xi. 79. 
Agostino, Par. xii. 122. 
Aguglione d', Baldo, Par. 

xvi. 54. 
Ahasuerus, Purg. xvii. 28 
Ahitophel, H. xxviii. 133. 
Alagia, Purg. xix. 141. 
Alagna, Purg. xx. 86. Par. 

xxx. 145. 
Alardo, H. xxviii. 17. 
Alba, Par. vi. 38. 
Alberichi, Par. xvi. 87. 
Alberigo. See Manfredi. 
Albero of Siemia, H. xxix 

105. 
Albert I., Purg. vi. 98. Par 

xix. 114. 
Alberti degli, Alberto, H 

xxxii. 55. 
Alberti degli, Alessandro, 

H. xxxii. 53. 
Alberti degli, Napoleone, H. 

xxxii. 53. 
Alberto, Abbot of San Zeno 

Purg. xviii. 118. 
Albertus 3Iagnus, Par. x. 

95. 
Alcides, H. xxv. 30; xxxi. 

123. 
Alcmaeon, Purg. xu. 46 

Par. iv. 100. 
Aldobrandesco, Guglielmo^ 

Purg. xi. 59 



57 5 



INDEX 



A-Fjirir. .:£.>:■:■. Unirii.-, Ai:::.:iv, >2i_:, Par. xxu 
Poig. XL 58, 67. 131. 

1 r-i.i:.::. P_ A;-t1_i ■.:■ H 



tL 79; xvi.42. 

A".f •:■::. H. ix. 4-5. 
A.fsiiili: ::' Kccfi:, H. 
xxx. 76. 

A~-iss:_\ Sfr Ir.:fnnizj-:. 
a.:X-:.':: F.irims. H. xii. 

106. 
i.-i '■:: :ie Gni:. H. 

xiv. •;_-. 



63. Purg. t. 94; xxx. 87. 
Par. xxL 97. 

A -:•:;:■:. Pm. xx. 1C7. Fir. 

L 12; it 9. 
Aiiin. H. xxriii. 7. Ste« 

PcuiFe 
AiuLm. H. xxviii.15. 
Armr/js. H. xxiv.S, 
A:inii:. PiT£. xxh. ^ 



Aionzo X. of S;iii. ftir. 


Are 


xix. _:. 


— 


A7fm, Fir. :::. J ; . 




Amaia, Pmg. xvii. 34. 


• ^ 


A::::_r:. Pi:, xt;. ;;:. 


A "T- 


V:-V : ", FT. xxx- , 


A .' -" 


Alive is. Fir. xi. :;. 


An 


Aiii:n:x. F.ii:. xxi. ::". 


AH" 



ri. xtx. lr, Firi 
, Pmg. iii- 113- 



i 90. 

3,1-22 



; xi:x 
hi. v: 



XXV„1. 



::;. A:.i.ii~. _ : - 

i. -?. A::f5. Pin. v; 

iv. 135. 52. Par. L 

69; iv. 119;! 106- 
r. xv. 25 : Arias, Par. xiii. 123. 

* ;! Aristotle, H. iv. 12g ; xL 
=4. 104. Pms. iii. 41. Par. 



■eDanieL 

.. :~r . XV :,.- ; 

111 . : : ."11X11 , 
T. 123; xiv.26. 

Fitanti. 
ar. xri. 106. 



:•:. :■:■?, 



All,: 
±11 HOC 



INDEX. 



573 



Assyrians, Purg. xii. 54. 
Athamas, H. xxx. 4. 
Athens, H. xii. 17. Purg. 

vi. 141 ; xv. 96. Par. xvii. 

46. 
Atropos, H. xxxiii. 124. 
Attila, H. xii. 134; xiii. 

150. 
Aventine, H. xxv. 25. 
Averroes, H. iv. 141. 
August, Purg. v. 38. 
Augustine, Saint, Par. x. 

Ii7; xxxii. 30. 
Augustus, Par. xxx. 136. 

See Caesar. 
Avicen, H. iv. 140. 
Aulis, H. xx. 109. 
Aurora, Purg. ii. 8 ; ix. 1. 
Ausonia, Par. viii. 63. 
Ausonian, Par. xi. 98. 
Austrian, H. xxxii. 26. 
Azzo of, Ubaldini, Purg. 

xiv. 107. 
Azzolino. See Romano. 

Babylonian, Par. xxiii. 129. 
Bacchiglione, H. xv, 115. 

Par. ix. 47. 
Bacchus, H. xx. 55. Purg. 

xviii. 93. Par. xiii. 22. 
Bagnacavallo, Purg. xiv. 

118. 
Bagnoregio, Par. xii. 119. 
Balearic, H. xxviii. 79. 
Baliol, John, Par. xix. 121. 
Baptist. See John. 
Barbariccia, H. xxi. 118; 

xxii. 30, 57, 142. 
Barbarossa. See Frederick. 
Bari, Par. viii. 64. 
Barucci, Par. xvi. 102. 
Battifolle da, Frederigo No- 

vello, Purg. vi. 17. 
Beatrice, daughter of Folco 

Portinari, passim. 
Beatrice, Marchioness of Es- 

te, Purg. viii. 73. 
Beatrix, wife of Charles I. 

king of Naples, Purg. vii. 

129. Par. vi. 135. 
Beccaria, H. xxxii. 116. 
Bede, Par. x. 127. 
Begga, Par. ix. 88. 
Belacqua, Purg. iv. 119. 
Belisarius, Par. vi. 25. 
Bella della, Giano, Par. xvi. 

130. 
Bellincion. See Berti. 
Bello del, Geri, H. xxix 26. 



Belus, Par. ix. 93. 
Belzebub, H. xxxiv 122. 
Benacus, H. xx. 60, 72, 75. 
Benedict, Saint, Par. xxii 

38 ; xxxii. 30. 
Benedict, Saint, the Abbey, 

H. xvi. 100. 
Benevento, Purg. iii. 124. 
Benincasa d' Arezzo, Purg. 

vi. 14. 
Berenger, Raymond, Par. 

vi. 136. 
Bergamese, H. xx. 70. 
Bernard the Franciscan 

Par. xi. 72. 
Bernard, Saint, Par. xxxi. 

55, 93, 130 ; xxxii. 1 ; 

xxxiii. 47. 
Bernardin. See Fosco. 
Bernardone, Pietro, Par. xi 

83. 
Berti, Bellincion, Par. xv 

106; xvi. 96, 119. 
Bertrand. See Born. 
Bethlehem, Purg. xx. 135. 
Bianco, H. xxiv. 149. 
Billi, Par. xvi. 100. 
Bindi, Par. xxix. 111. 
Birtha, Par. xiii. 135. 
Bisenzio, H. xxxii. 54. 
Bismantua, Purg. iv. 25. 
Bocca. See Abbati. 
Boetius, Par. x. 119. 
Bohemia, Purg. vii. 98. Par. 

xix. 116. 
Bohemian, Par. xix. 123. 
Bologna, H. xviii. 58 ; xxiii 

105, 144. Purg. xiv. 102. 
Bolognian, Purg. xi. 83. 
Bolsena, Purg. xxiv. 25. 
Bonatti, Guido, H. xx. i!6. 
Bonaventura, Saint, Par 

xii. 25, 118. 
Boniface, Purg. xxiv. 30. 
Boniface VIII., H. xix. 55; 

xxvii. 81. Purg. xx. 85; 

xxxii. 146. Par. ix. 134; 

xii. 82; xxii. 14; xxvii. 

20 ; xxx. 145. 
Bonturo. See Dati. 
Borgo, Par. xvi. 132. 
Born de, Bertrand, H. xxviii. 

130 ; xxix. 27. 
Borneil de, Giraud, Purg, 

xxvi. 113. 
Borsiere, Guglielmo, H. xvi 

70. 
Bostichi, Par. xvi. 91. 
Botaio, Martino, H. xxi, 37. 



574 



INDEX. 



Brat ant, Purg. vi. 24. 
Branca. See Doria. 
Branda, H. xxx. 77. 
Brennus, Par. vi. 44. 
Brenta, H. xv. 8. Par. ix. 23. 
Brescia, H. xx. 66. 
Brescian, H. xx. 70. 
Brettinoro, Purg. xiv. 114. 
Briaretis, H.xxxi. 90. Purg. 

xii. 25. 
Brigata, son of Count Ugo- 

lino de' Gherardeschi, H. 

xxxiii. 88. 
Brosse de la, Peter, Purg. 

vi. 23. 
Bruges, H. xv. 5. Purg. xx. 

46. 
Brundusium, Purg. iii. 26. 
Brunelleschi, Agnello, H. 

xxv. 61. 
Brunette See Latini. 
Brutus, Junius, the expeiler 

ofTarquin, H. iv. 123. 
Brutus, Marcus, the slayer 

of Caesar, H. xxxiv. 61. 

Par. vi. 76. 
Bryso, Par. xiii. 121. 
Bujamonti, Giovanni, H. 

xvii. 69. 
Bulicame, H. xiv. 76. 
Buonacossi, Pinamonte, H. 

xx. 95. 
Buonaggiunta Urbiciani, 

Purg. xxiv. 20, twice. 
Buonconte, Purg. v. 87. 
Buondelmonti, Par. xvi. 65. 
Buondelmonti de', Buondel- 

monte, Par. xvi. 139. 
Buoso. See Donati. 

Caccia. See Asciano. 
Cacciaguida, Par. xv. 84, 

128 ; xvii. 6. 
Caccianimico, Venedicj, H. 

xviii. J50. 
Cacus, H. xxv. 24. 
Cadmus, H. xxv. 89. 
Caecilius, Purg. xxii. 97. 
Caesar, H. xiii. 63. Purg. 

vi. 93, 116. Par. vi. 10 ; 

xvi. 57. 
Caesar, Augustus, H. i. 67. 

Purg. vii. 5; xxix. 111. 

Par. vi. 75. 
Caesar, Julius, H. i. 65; iv. 

120 Purg. xviii. 99 ; xxvi. 

70. Par. xi. 64. 
Cagnano, the river, Par. ix. , 

48. 



Cagnano da, Angelo or An 

giolelio, H. xxviii. 73. 
Cagnazzo, H. xxi. 117 ; xxii 

105. 
Cai'aphas, H. xxiii. 117. 
Qahors, H. xi. 53. 
Cahorsines, Par. xxvii. 53. 
Caieta, H. xxvi. 91. 
Cain, H. xx. 123. Purg 

xiv. 137. Par. ii. 52. 
Caina, H. v. 105; xxxii. 

57. 
Calabria, Par. xii. 131. 
Calboli da, Fulcieri, Purg. 

xiv. 61. 
Calboli da, Rinieri, Purg, 

xiv. 91, 92. 
Calcabrina, H. xxi. 117 ; 

xxii. 133. 
Calchas, H. xx. 109. 
Calfucci, Par. xvi. 104. 
Callaroga, Par. xii. '48. 
Calliope, Purg. i. 9. 
Callisto, Purg. xxv. 126. 
Callixtus I., Par. xxvii. 4C 
Camaldoli, Purg. v. 94. 
Camiccione, Alberto ; de' 

Pazzi, H. xxxii. 65. 
Camilla, H. i. 104 ; iv. 120. 
Camino da, Gherardo, Purg, 

xvi. 126, 137, 142. 
Camino da, Riccardo, Par 

ix. 48. 
Camonica, H. xx. 62. 
Campagnatico, Purg. xi. 66. 
Campaldino, Purg. v. 90. 
Campi, Par. xvi. 48. 
Canavese, Purg. vii. 138. 
Cancellieride', Focaccia, H. 

xxxii. 60. 
Cancer, Par. xxv. 102. 
Capaneu?, U. xiv. 59. 
Capet, Hugh, Purg. xx. 48. 
Capocchio, H. xxix. 134, 

xxx. 28. 
Caponsacco, Par. xiv. 120 
Capraia, H. xxxiii. 82. 
Capricorn, Purg. ii. 55. Par 

xxvii. 63. 
Caprona, H. xxi. 92. 
Capulets, Purg. vi. 107. 
Carisenda, H. xxxi. 128. 
Carlino. See Pazzi. 
Carpigna di, Guido ; da.Mcn< 

tefeltro, Purg. xiv. 100. 
Carrara, H. xx. 45. 
Casale, Par. xii. 115. 
Casalodi, H. xx. 94 
Casella, Purg. ii. 88. 



INDIA. 



575 



Casentino, H. xxx. 64. Purg. 

v. 92 ; xiv. 45. 
Cassero del, Giacopo, Purg. ! 

V. 73. 
Cassero del, Guido, H. xxviii. 

73. 
Cassino, Par. xxii. 38. 
Cassias, H. xxxiv. 62. Par. 

vi. 76. 
Castello da, Guido, Para:. 

xvi. 127. 
Castile, Par. xii. 49. 
Castrocaro, Purg. xiv. 1 18. 
Catalano. See 3Ialavolti. 
Catalonia, Par. viii. 83. 
Catilini. Par. xvi. 86. 
Cato, II. iv. 1-24 : xiv. 15. 

Purg. i. 31; ii. 113. 
Catria, Par. xxi. 99. 
Cattolica, H. xxviii. 77. 
Cavalcante, Francesco Gu- 

ercio, H. xxv. 14-2. 
Cavalcanti, H. xxx. 33. 
Cavalcanti de', Cavalcante, 

H. x. 52. 
Cavalcanti, Guido, H. x. 62. 

Purg. xi. 96. 
Cecina, H. xiii. 10. 
CelestineV., Ii. iii. 56 : xxvii. 

101. 
Centaurs, II. xii. 53. 103, 

116, 128; xxv. 17. Purg. 

xxiv. 120. 
Ceperano, H. xxviii. 14. 
Cephas, Par. xxi. 118. 
Cerbaia da, Count Orso, 

Purs:, vi. 20. 
Cerberus, H. vi. 12, ?2, 31 ; 

ix. 97. 
Cerchi, Par. xvi. G3. 
Ceres, Purs:, xxviii. 5-2 
Certaldo, Par. xvi. 48. 
Cervia, H. xxvii. 40. 
Cesena, H. xxvii. 50. 
Couta, H. xxvi. 109. 
Charlemain, H. xxxi. 15. 

Par. vi. S8; xviii. 39. 
Charles I. of Anjou, king of 

Naples, H. xix. 103. Purg. 

v. 69; vii. 114, 125: xi. 

137 ; xx. 59, 65. Par. viii. 

77. 
Charles II. , king of Xapies, 

Purs:, vii. 125. Par. xix. 

125 ; xx. 58. 
Charles of Lorraine, Purg, 

xx. 52. 
Charles 3Iartel, Par viii. 

50 ; ix. 1. 



Charles of ViJojs, ;1. vi. 69 
Purg. xx. 69. Par. vi. 
110. 

Charon. H. iii. 89, 101, 119- 
Charybdis, H.vii. 22. 
Chebar, Purg. xxix. 97, 
Chiana, Par. xiii. 21, 
Chiaramontesi, Par. xvi 

103. 
Chiarentana, H. xv. 10 
Chiascio, Par. xi. 40. 
Chiasa, Purg. xxviii. 20 
Chiaveri, Purs. xix. 99. 
Chiron, H. xii. 62, 69, 74, 95 

Purg. ix. bi. 
Chiusi, Par. xvi. 74. 
Christ, Jesus, H. xxxiv. 110 

Purs. xx. 86 : xxi. 6 : xxiii. 

67 ; xxvi. 121 ; xxxii. 10 J 

Par. vi. 15 ; ix. 117; xi. 

66, 99 ; xii. 35, 6Q, 67, 68 ; 

xiv. 96, 98, 101 ; xvii. 50 ; 

xix. 68, 102, lu5 twice ; 

xx. 42 ; xxiii. 20. 71 ; xxv. 

35 ; xxvii. 36 ; xxix. 103. 

115 ; xxxi. 3, 99; xxxii 

17, 19, 22, 73, 75, 111. 
Christians, H. xxvii. 84. 

Purg. x. 110; xxii. 74, 90. 

Par. v. 74 ; xv. 128 ; xix. 

103 ; xx. 96 ; xxiv. 53, 105 ; 

xxvii. 44. 
Chrvsostom, Saint, Par. -r\ 

J 28. 
Ciacco, H. vi. 52, 58. 
Ciampoio, II. xxii. 47. 
Cianfa. See Donati. 
Cianghella, Par. xv. 120. 
Cieldauro, Par. x. 124. 
Cimabue, Purg. xi. 93. 
Cincinnatus. See Quintius. 
Circe, H. xxvi. 90. Purg. 

xiv. 45. 
Ciriatto, II. xxi. 120 ; xxii 

54. 
Clare, Saint, Par. iii. 99. 
Clement IV., Purg. iii. 122. 
Clement V., H. xix 86. 

Purg. xxxii. 155. Par 

xvii. 80: xxvii. 53; xxx 

141. 
Clemenza, Par. ix. 2. 
Cleopatra, H. v. 62. Par 

vi. 79. 
Cletus, Par. xxvii. 37, 
Clio, Purg. xxii. 58. 
Clotho, Purg. xxi. 28 
Clymene, Par. xvii. 1 
Coan, Purg. xxix. 133. 



576 



INDEX. 



Cocytus, H. xiv. 114 ; xxxi. 

114; xxxiii. 154; xxxiv. 

4?. 
Colc'hos, H. xviii. 50. Par. 

ii. 18. 
Colle, Purg. xiii. 10?. 
Cologne, H. xxiii. 63. Par. 

X. 95. 
Colonnesi. H. xxvii. 52. 
Conio, Counts of. Purs. xiv. 

119 
Conrad. See Malaspina and 

Palazzo. 
Conrad I.. Par. xv. 132. 
Conradine, Purg. xx. 66. 
Constance. Empress, Purg. 

iii.lll. Par. iii. 121; iv. 95. 
Constantine the Great, H. 

xix. 115 ; xxvii. 59. Par. 

v. 1 ; xx. 50. 
Conti Guidi, Par. xvi. 62. 
Cornelia. H. iv. 1-25. Par. 

xy. 122. 
Corneto. H. xiii. 10. 
Corneto'da, Biniero, H. xii. 

137. 
Corsic, Purg. xviii. 81. 
Cortisiani, Par. xvi. 110. 
Cosenza, Purs. iii. 121. 
Costanza, Empress. See 

Constance. 
Costanza. Queen. Purs. iii. 

112 ; 135 ; vii. 130. 
Crassus. Purg. xx. 114. 
Crete, H. xii. 13 ; xiv. 90. 
Creusa. Par. ix. 94. 
Croatia, Par. xxxi. 94. 
Crotona, Par. vin. 64. 
Cunizza. Par. ix. 32. 
Cupid, Par. viii. 9. 
Curiatii. Par. vi. 39. 
Curio, H. xxviii. 97. 
Cynthia, Purg. xxix. 77. 
Cyprian, H. xxviii. 75. Par. 

viii. 3. 
Cyrrhaean, Par. i. 35. 
Cyrus. Purg. xii. 51. 
Cytherea, Purg. xxv. 127 ; 

xxviii. 63. 

Daedalus, H. xvii, 105 : xxix. 

112. Par. viii. 131. 
Damiano. Pietro, Par. xxi. 

112. 
Damiata, H. xiv. 100. 
Daniel, Purs. xxii. 143. Par. 

iv. 13 : xxLx. 140. 
Daniel, Arnault. Purg. xxvi. 

134. 



I Dante, Purg. xxx. 53. 
Danube, H. xxxii. 26. Par 

i viii. 69. 

Daphne, Purg. xxii. *12. 
. Dati de 5 , Bonturo, II. xxi 
1 40. 

David, H. iv. 55 ; xxviii 

I 133. Purg. x. 60. Pax. 

xx. 34 ; xxv. 71 ; xxxii. 5. 

Decii, Par. vi. 45. 

Deianira, H. xii. 65. 

: Deidamia, H. xxvi. 64. 

Purg. xxii. ill. 
vDeiphile, Purg. xxii. 105. 
Delos. Purs. xx. 126. 
! Delphic, Par. i. 30. 
Democritus, H. iv. 132. 
Demophoon, Par. ix. 97. 
Dente del,Vitaliano. H. xvii. 
! 66. 
Diana, Purs. xx. 127: xxv. 

126. 
Diana, a subterraneous 
stream imagined at Sien- 
na, Pmg. xiii. 144. 
Dido, H. v. 64. Par. vin. 

11 ; ix. 93. 
, Diogenes, H. iv. 133. 
! Diomede, H. xxvi. 56. 
Dione, Par. viii. 9 : xxii. 
; 140. 

Dionvsius the Areopasite, 
! Par. x. 112 ; xxviii. 121. 
! Dionvsius. kins of Portugal, 

Par. xix. 135. 
Dionvsius the tvrant, H. xii. 

107. 
Dioscorides, H. iv. 136. 
Dis. H. viii. 66; xi. 65: xii. 

37 ; xxxiv. 20. 
Dolcino, H. xxviii. 53. 
Dominic. Saint, Par. x. 91 ; 
xi. 36, 113 ; xii. 51, 64, 
134. 
Dominicans. Par. xi. 116. 
i Domitian. Purg. xxii. 63. 
Donati, Buoso, H. xxv. 131 ; 

xxx. 44. 
Donati, Cianfa, H. xxv. 39, 
Donati, Corso, Purg. xxiv. 

81. 
Donati, Ubertino. Par. xvi 

118 
; Donatus, Par. xii. 129. 
Doria, Branca, H. xxxiii 
j 136, 138. 

1 Douay, Purg. xx. 46. 
! Draghinazzo, H. xxi. 1U 
xxii. 72. 



INDEX. 



577 



Ihica del, Guido ; da Bret- 
tinoro, Purg. xiv. 83. 

Duera da, Buoso, H. xxxii. 
113. 

Dyrrachium, Par. vi. 66. 

Ebro, in Italy, Par. ix. 85. 
Ebro, in Spain, Purg. xxvii. 

4. 
Echo, Par. xii. 12. 
Edward I., king of England, 

Purg. vii. 133. Par. xix. 

121. 
Egidius, Par. xi. 76. 
Egypt, Purg. ii. 45. Par. 

xxv. 59. 
Eleanor, wife of Edward I. 

of England, Par. vi. 135. 
Elbe, Purg. vii. 96, twice. 
Electra, H. iv. 117. 
El, Par. xxvi. 133. 
Eli, Purg. xxiii. 69. Par. 

xxvi. 134. 
Elias, Purg. xxxii. 79. 
Elijah, H. xxvi. 37. 
Eliseo, Par. xv. 129. 
Elisha, H. xxvi. 35. 
Elsa, Purg. xxxiii. 67. 
Elys-ian, Par. xv. 25. 
Ema, Par. xvi. 142. 
^mpedocles, H. iv. 134, 
England, Purg. vii. 129. 
English, Par. xix. 121. 
Eolus, Purg. xxviii. 2L 
Ephialtes, H. xxxi. 85 t 99. 
Epicurus, H. x. 15. 
Epirot, Par. vi. 44. 
Erictho, H. ix. 24. 
Eriphyle, Purg. xii. 46. Par. 

iv. 102. 
Erisicthon, Purg. xxiii. 23. 
Erynnis, H. ix. 46. 
Erythrsean, H. xxiv. 88 
Esau, Par. viii. 136. 
Este, Purg. v. 77. 
Este da, Azzo, Purg. v. 77. 
Este da, Obizzo, H. xii. Ill ; 

xviii. 56. 
Esther, Purg. xvii. 29. 
Eteocles, H. xxvi. 55. Purg. 

xxii. 57. 
Ethiopia, H. xxiv. 87. 
Euclid, H. iv. 139. 
Eve, Purg. viii. 98 ; xii. 65 ; 

xxiv. 116. Par. xiii. 35; 

xxxii. 3. 
Eunoe, Purg. xxviii. 137 ; 

xxxiii. 126. 
Euphrates, Purg xxxiii. 112. ' 
49 



Euripides, Putg. xxi; &*..• 
Euryalus, H. i. 105. 
EurypiHis, H. xx. 111. 
Europa, Par. xxvii. 78. 
Europe, Purg. viii. 121. Par 

vi. 6 ; xii. 44. 
Eurus, Par. viii. 71. 
Ezekiel, Purg. xxix. 90 

Fabii, Par. vi. 48. 
Fabricius, Purg. xx. 25. 
Faenza, H. xxvii. 46 ; xxxii> 

120. Purg. xiv. 103. 
Falterona, mountain, Purg 

xiv. 19. 
Falterona, valley, H. xxxii 

53. 
Famagosta, Par. xix. 143. 
Fano, H. xxviii. 72. Purg 

V. 70. 
Fantolini, Purg. xiv. 125. 
Farfarello, H. xxi. 121 ; xxii. 

93. 
Farinata. See Uberti. 
Felice Guzman, Par. xii. 73. 
Feltro, Ii. i. 102. Par. ix 

50. 
Ferdinand IV. of Spain 

Par. xix. 122. 
Ferrara, Par. ix. 54 ; xv 

130. 
Fesole, H. xv. 62, 73. Par. 

vi. 54; xv. 119; xvi. 121. 
Fieschi, Purg. xix. 97. 
Fifanti degli, Arrigo, H. vi 

81. 
Fighine, Par. xvi. 48. 
Filippeschi, Purg. vi. 108. 
Filippi, Par. xvi. 86. 
Filippo. See Argent! . 
Flaccus, H. iv. 84. 
Flemings, H. xv. 4. 
Florence, H. x. 91 ; xvi. 73 

xxiv. 143; xxvi. 1. Purg 

vi. 129; xi. 114; xii. 96; 

xiv. 53 ; xx. 74 ; xxiii. 94. 

Par. xv. 92; xvi. 23, 83, 

145, 147; xvii. 48; xxix, 

109 ; xxxi. 35. 
Florentine, H. viii. 60 ; xvii. 

67; xxxiii. 12. Par. xvi. 

59, 85. 
Focaccia. See Cancellieri. 
Focara, H. xxviii. 85. 
Folco, Par. ix. 90. 
Forese, Purg. xxiii. 44, 70; 

xxiv. 72. 
Forli, H. xvi. 99; xxvii. 41. 

Purg. xxiv. 33. 



578 



INDEX 



Fosco di, Bernardin, Purg. 

xiv. 10.'}. 
France, II. xxvii. 42 : xxix. 

118. Purs. xx. 49, 69. 

Par. xv. 114. 
Francesca, daughter of Gui- 

do Novelio da Polenta, 

H. v. 113. 
Francis, Saint, H. xxvii. 65, 

109. Par. xi. 34, 69 ; xiii. 

30 ; xxii. 88 ; xxxii. 30. 
Franco of Bologna, Purg. 

xi. 83. 
Frederick I., Emperor, Purg. 

xviii. 119. 
Frederick IT., Emperor, H. 

x. 1-20 ; xiii. 61 ; xxiii. 66. 

Purg. xvi. 1-20. Par. iii. 

1-2-2. 
Frederick II., king of Sicily, 

Purg. iii. 113. Par. xix. 

127 ; xx. 58. 
Frenchman, H. xxxii. 112. 
Frieselanders, H. xxxi. 57. 
Fucci, Vamii, H. xxiv. 120. 

Gabriel, Par. iv. 48; ix. 

133 ; xxxii. 91, 101. 
Gaddo, sou of Count Ugo- 

lino de' Gherardeschi, H. 
^ xxxiii. 66. 
Gades, Par. xxvii. 76. 
Gaeta, Par. viii. 64. 
Gaia, Purg. xvi. 144. 
Galenus, H. iv. 140. 
Galicia, Par. xxv. 20. 
Galisaio, Par. xvi. 9?. 
Galli, Par. xvi. 102. 
Gallia. Purg. vii. 103. 
Gallura, H. xxii 51. Purg. 

viii. 81. 
Galluzzo, Par. xvi. 51. 
Ganellon, H. xxxii. 119. 
Ganges, Purg. ii. 5 ; xxvii. 

5. Par. xi. 48. 
Ganvmede, Purs. ix. 21. 
Garda, H. xx. 62. 
Gardingo, H. xxiii. 110. 
Gascon, Par. xvii. 80 ; xxvii. 

53. 
Gascony, Purg. xx. 64. 
Gaville, H. xxv. 140. 
Genoan, Par. ix. 87. 
Genoese, H. xxxiii. 149. 
Gentiles, Par. xx. 96. 
Gentucca, Purg. xxiv. 38. 
Geri. See Bello. 
German, H. xvii. 21. Purg. I 

vi. 93. Par. viii. 70. 



Germany, II. xx. 59. 
Geryon, H. xvii. 93, 129 

xviii. 21. Purg xxvii. 24. 
Ghent, H. xv. 5. Pars:, xx. 

46. 
Gherardeschi de\ Ugolino 

Count, H. xxxiii. 14, 86. 
Gherardo. See Camino. 
Ghibellines, Par. vi. 107. 
Ghino di Tacco. Purg. vi 

15. 
Ghisola. H. xviii. 55. 
Giacomo. See Andrea da, 

Sant'. 
Giacopo. See Rusticucci 
Giaiifigliazzi, H. xvii. 57. 
Gibraltar, H. xxvi. 106. 
Gideon. Purg. xxiv. 124. 
Gilboa, Purg. xii. 37. 
Giotto, Purg. xi. 95. 
Giovanna, mother of Saint 

Dominic, Par. xii. 74. 
Giovanna, wife of Buon- 

conte da Montefeltro. 

Purg. v. 88. 
Giovanna, wife of Riccarda 

da Camino, Purg. viii. 71 
Giuda, Par. xvi. 121. 
Giuliano, S., H. xxxiii. 29. 
Giuochi, Par. xvi. 102. 
Glaucus, Par. i. 66. 
Godfrey of Boulogne, Par 

xviii. 43. 
Gomita, Friar, H. xxii en 
Gomorrah, Purg. xxvi 35. 
Gorgon, H. ix. 57. 
Gorgona, H. xxxiii. 82. 
Governo, H. xx. 77. 
Gnecia, H. xx. 107. Par 

xx. 51. 
Grarriacane. H. xxi. 120 •' 

xxii. 34. 
Gratian, Par. x. 101. 
Greci, Par. xvi. 87. 
Grecian. Purg. xxii. 106. 
Greek, Pura. xxii. 100. 
Greeks, H. xxvi. 76. Purg 

xxii. 87. 
Gregory the Great. Purg. x. 

63. Par. xx. 103 ; xxviiL 

126. 
Grifolino d'Arezzo, H xxix 

104 : xxx. 32. 
Gualandi, H. xxxiii. 32. 
Gualdo, Far. xi. 44. 
Gualdrada, H. xvi. 38. 
Gualterotti, Par. xvi. 132. 
Guelphs, Par. vi. 110. 
Guenever, Par. xvi 15 



INDEX. 



57S 



Guido. See Cavalcanti, 
Cassero, Castello, Duca, 
Guinicelli, N ovello, Prata. 

Guido, Conte, Par. xvi. 95. 

Guido of Romena, H. xxx. 
76. 

Guidoguerra, H. xvi. 38. 

Guinicelli, Guido, Purg. xi. 
96 ; xxvi. 83. 

Guiscard, Robert, H. xxviii. 
12. Par. xviii. 44. 

Guittone d'Arezzo, Purg. 
xxiv. 56; xxvi. 118. 

Haman, Purg. xvii. 26. 
Hannibal, H. xxxi. 107. 

Par. vi. 51. 
Haquin, Par. xix. 136. 
Hautefort, H. xxix. 28. 
Hebrews, Purg. xxiv. 123. 

Par. xxxJ. 14. 
Hector, H. iv. 118. Par. vi. 

71. 
Hecuba, H. xxx. 16. 
Helen, H. v 63. 
Helice, Par. xxxi. 29. 
Helicon, Purg. xxix. 38. 
Heliodorus, Purg. xx. 111. 
Hellespont, Purg. xxviii. 70. 
Henry, nephew of Henry 

III. of England, H. xii. 

119. 
Henry VI., Emperor, Par. 

iii. 122. 
Henry VII., Emperor, Purg. 

vi. 103. Par. xvii. 80 ; xxx. 

135. 
Henry II., king of England, 

H. xxviii. 131. 
Henry II., king of Cyprus, 

Par. xix. 144. 
Henry of Navarre, Purg. 

vii. 105. 
Henrv III., king of Eng- 
land, Purg. vii. 131. 
Heraclitus, H. iv. 134. 
Hercules, H. xxvi. 106. Par. 

ix. 98. 
Hesperian, Purg. xxvii. 4. 
Hezekiah, Par. xx. 44. 
Hippocrates, H. iv. 139. 

Purg. xxix. 133. 
Hippolytus, Par. xvii. 47. 
Holofernes, Purg. xii. 54. 
Homer, H. iv. 83. Purg. 

xxii. 100. 
Honorius III., Par. xi. 90. 
Horace. See Flaccus. 
Horatii, Par. vi. ,} 9. 



Hungary, Par. viii. 68 ; xix 

138. 
Hugh. See Capet. 
Hugues. See Victor Saint. 
Hypsipile, H. xviii. 90. Purg. 

xxii. 110. 
Hyperion, Par. xxii. 138. 

Jacob, Par. viii. 136 ; xxii. 

70. 
James II., king of Aragon, 

Purg. iii. 113; vii. 120. 

Par. xix. 133. 
James, king of Majorca and 

Minorca, Par. xix. 133. 
James, Saint ; the elder. 

Par. xxv. 20. 
January, Par. xxvii. 133. 
Janus, Par. vi. 83. 
Jarbas, Purg. xxxi. 69. 
Jason, the Argonaut, II. 

xviii. 85. Par. ii. 19. 
Jason, the Jew, H. xix. 88. 
Iberia, H. xxvi. 101. 
Icarus, H. xvii. 105. Par. 

viii. 132. 
Ida, H. xiv. 93. 
Jepthah, Par. v. 64. 
Jerome, Saint, Par. xxix. 

38. 
Jerusalem, Purg. xxiii, 26 

Par. xix. 125 ; xxv. 59. 
Jesus. See Christ. 
Jews, H. xxiii. 126; xxvii. 

83. Par. v. 81 ; vii. 45 * 

xxix. 108. 
Ilerda, Purg. xviii. 100. 
Ilion, Purg. xii. 57. 
Ilium, H. i. 71. 
Illuminato, Par. xii. 121. 
Imola, H. xxvii. 46. 
Importuni, Par. xvi. 133. 
Indian, Purg. xxvi. 18 ■ 

xxxii. 41. Par. xxix. 108. 
Indus, Par. xix. 67. 
Infangato, Par. xvi. 122 
Innocent III., Par. xi. 85. 
Ino, H. xxx. 5. 
Interminei, Alessio, H. xviii 

120. 
Joachim, Par. xii. 131. 
Joanna, Par. xii. 74. 
Jocasta, Purg. xxii. 57. 
John the Baptist, H. xiii. 

145 ; xxx. 73. Purg. xxii. 

148. Par. iv. 29 ; xvi. 24 k 

45 ; xviii. 130 ; xxxii. 26. 
John, king of England, H 

xxviii. 130. 



580 



INI IX. 



.. H. -rvd. 4*. 



: : 2 . 

'..... XXI. See 

J:..:: XXII.. ?ir. 
I:ie. Pi:. :::. X. 



3* 



Par. 



, H. XT. 23, 



J:re 



xxiL 141 ; xxvii. 13. x i 

I;Xi.rer_:a. Pi:. 7. :■:■. Linr-i, Pi 

1:_5. Pu.:*. xx.. X. Pi: x::. Li~:v;. H. 



L5 ; xi. 5S ; 
. 126. Pan 



9. 

Iiiiis. ^ :_ .:;:-■ : 



Is-e 

I-; 

X::: 
Isx: 

L.:l 



X::. 
Inl: 



7i. r ; . 

'. X. 1-35. 
rg. xxiL 110. 

:.::?. xr:7. X. 
v, !•:, Fur*, ii. 



xviL 37. Par. vi. 4. 

Li::r::r, X :. . .- . ." X 
LeiuX:. ?:::r. ?ixr7:. 7j. 
Learchas, H. xxx. 10. 
Leda, Pnrg. iv. 59. Par. 

Leah^Paii- xxvii. 102. 

L.xxxi::. K. xr::i. X. 
Lentiuo da, Jacopo, Pnrg. 

xxit. 5:. 



[taly, X. L 

57. P "j_r . 
xiii. 5" ; 
Pa:, xxi 
Juba. Pi:. 

xxi. X. 

T ---,--, - 
J'l" ■-"-. Pi 
JuX H 7 

Vx..: ^_ 

X; H 

t.'.Xt™ X 



IT. vi. 11. 

g xxi:, 1- . 



L?.:X: 
Lacxe: 

XXT. 

Laerti 

Lu • 

X:.i: 
102, 



XT; xxx. 145 ; xxxiii. 94, 

Levi,"Pur~ xvi. 136. 

L:ir. :.: .... L: ..r.x ii::. X 

L::iiv = . ?7.:-. xxx. X. 
Liblcocco, H. xxi 119 ; xxii 



L::x _ . r 777. i 

7777 -2. 

LXe. Purg. xx. 46. 



7 7; xx:. ~5 : 

::. 77. 

?ir. x-i. :;;.. 
:•■:■:■: Fzzi sir, 



Per 



lbo, H. iv. 41. 

:77, ?7ir. XX77 IX. 

ib, Poet, H. iv. 138. 

v.s._r :; t. _- 1:. 7X7..., X 



777:-: : 

xX. ; 
x. 



"-:: xxX 95 
.:r. v:. B' 
; mi 



INDEX. 



531 



Lombardo, Marco, Purg. 

xvi. 46, 133. 
Lombardo. See Pietro. 
Lombardv, H. xxviii. 70. 

Purg. xvi. 46, 117. 
Louis, Purg. xx. 49. 
Lucan, H. iv. 85 ; xxv. 85. 
Lucca, H. xxxiii. 30. Purg. 

xxiv. 21, 36. 
Lucia, H. ii. 97, 100. Purg. 

ix. 51. Par. xxxii. 123. 
Lucifer, H. xxxi. 134 ; xxxiv. 

82. 
Lucretia, H. iv. 124. Par. 

vi. 41. 
Luke, Purg. xxi. 6 ; xxix. 

131. 
Luni, H. xx. 44. Par. xvi. 

Lybia, H. xxiv. 83. 
Lybic, Purg. xxvi. 39. 
Lycurgus, Purg. xxvi. 67. 

Macarius, Par. xxii. 48. 
Maccabee, Par. xviii. 37. 
Maccabees, H. xix. 89. 
3Iachinardo. See Pagano. 
Macra, Par. ix. 86. 
Madian, Purg. xxiv. 1-25. 
Maia, Par. xxii. 140. 
Malacoda, H. xxi. 74, 77. 
Malaspina, Conrad, Purg. 

viii. 65, 117. 
Malatestino. See Rimini. 
Malavolti de', Catalano, H. 

xxiii. 105, 110. 
Malebolge, H. xviii. 2; xxi. 

5 ; xxiv. 37 ; xxix. 39. 
Malta, Par. ix. 53. 
Manardi, Arrigo, Purg. xiv. 

100. 
Manfredi, Purg. iii. 110. 
Manfredi de', Alberigo, H. 

xxxiii. 116, 15-2. 
Manfredi de', Tribaldello, 

H. xxxii. 119. 
Mangiadore, Pietro, Par.xii. 

125. 
Manto, H. xx. 50. 
Mantua, H, ii. 59; xx. 91. 

Purg. vi. 7-2 ; xviii. 84. 
ilantuan, H. i. 64. Purg. 

vi. 74 ; vii. 86. 
Marca d'Ancona, Purg. v. 

67. 
Marcellus, Purg. vi. 127 
Marcia, H, iv. 125. Purg. i. 

79, 85. 
Marco. See Lombardo. 



Maremma, H. xxv. 18 

xxix. 47. Purg. V. 132. 
Margaret, wife of Louis IX 

of Trance, Purg. vii. 129. 

Par. vi. 135. 
Marocco, H. xxvi. 102. 
Mars, H. xxiv. 144. Purg 

ii. 14 ; xii. 27. Par. iv 

64 ; viii. 138 ; xiv. 93 ; xvi 

45; xxvii. 13. 
Marseilles, Purg. xviii. 100. 
Marsyas, Par. i. 19. 
3Iartin, Pai. xiii. 135. 
3Iartin IV., Purg. xxiv. 23 
3Iary, Purg. xxiii. 26 
Marv, the blessed Virgi.:,, 

Purg. iii. 37; v. 98; vii. 

37 ; xv. 87 ; xviii. 98 ; xxii. 

139 ; xxxiii. 6. Par. iv. 

30 ; xi. 67 ; xiv. 33 ; xv 

125; xxiii. 71, 109, 122, 

132; xxv. 127; xxxi. 124 ; 

xxxii. 3, 4, 95, 101 ; xxxiii. 

1. 
Mary of Brabant, Pun:, vi. 

24. 
3Iarzucco. See Scornigiani. 
Mascheroni, Sassol, H 

xxxii. 63. 
Matthias, Saint, H. xix. 98, 
3Iatilda, Purg. xxviii. 41 ' 

xxxii. 82 ; xxxiii. 119. 
Matteo, Par. xii. 111. 
3Iedea, H. xviii. 94. 
3Iedicina da, Piero, IT. 

xxviii. 69. 
Medusa, H. ix. 53. 
3Iegaera, H. ix. 47. 
Melchisidec, Par. viii. 130 , 
Meleager, Purg. xxv. 22. 
Melissus, Par. xiii. 121. 
3Ienalippus, H. xxxii. 128. 
3Iercabo, H. xxviii. 71. 
3Iercury, Par. iv. 64. 
3Ietellus, Purg. ix. 130. 
3Iichael, the Archangel, 

Par. iv. 48. 
3Iichel. See Zanche. 
3Iichol, Purg. x. 63, 65, 
3Iidas, Purg. xx. 1C>. 
3Ihan, Purg. viii. 80 ; xviii. 

120. 
3Iincius, H. xx. 76. 
3Iinerva, Purg. xxx. 07. Par. 

ii. 8. 
3Iinos, H. v. 4, 20 ; xiii. 99 

xx. 33 ; xxvii. 120 ; xxix 

114. Purg. i. 77. 
Minotaur, H. xii. 25. 



582 

Hffira, Pure. v. 7fl 



INDEX. 

Nxrs 



:•!:-; 



■.j-." 

V : ~- 

}lFx 
Mxx 
Moi 
Moi 
Mcc 

jffOE 

>Iox 
Mod 

A J 

3L:x 

Jxx; 



ft :xx 



:?s. 



31: 

::: 

V- 



M: 



XX.T. X; ;, ; 

116. 

Mozzi de 9 , Andrea, H. xv. 

113. 
Mnlciber, H. xrr. 54. 
Matins . See Sc s vola, 

.'/.a, H. xxx. 39. 



>"r'j-;.:'x:-.'.:.r ::?.:. P:x. xx 

13. 
Naiads, Pnrg. xnriii. 50. 
Naples, Pnrg. iii. 26. 

>~3.rc: - x. x-x Far, 

iiL 17. 

Vxx. H. xx :X -x C-r.l. 
xxx xxx H. xxx. 5". 
Nathan, Par. xii . 127. 
Nxxxr, ft xxii. 47, 121. 

?x:xx:._,. x'zx xxx. 1-:.. 
Nazartxx Far. :x. XX. 
>~xx. Fxxx xxx:. : : . 

XXX 

xxxxx ;:. 
Neri, ft xxxr. 142. 
Nerii, Fxx xv. no. 
xxxx, ft xii. 96;xiii. 1. 

>x:cxx>. >x >xxxxxxx 
?^xxx. ; . >:._x. Fx.xx xx 

Nicholas in., H. xix. 71. 
Nicosia, Par. six. 144. 
Nile, H. xoriv. 41. Pi 
xxiv. 63. Par. vi. 68. 



PUK 



FxXXXX H. T. :x 

x:x, Pxxxx xxx 22. 
P is x. H. i. 105. 

>\.,x, H. xx ::. Fix xii 

15. 
| Nocera, Par. xi. 44. 
Noli, Pnrg. iv. 24. 

F xx- 



\tx_x:, H. 

. xv. 103. 
r. xvi. 63. 
L xxxi. 38. 

.xx H. xx. 



H. 



rg. xx. 64. 
OX. 136. 
nil 56. 
xx See Bat- 

; .'.i ?:xxx 



:x: ; Au- 

? A:xxx. 
xx:. xxxx i:\ 
:xx xx x. 
Axxxxx >xx> 

XXX X 41. 



Par 



'xxxxx. Fxx xvi. i_ . 
Orosins, Pauins, Par. x 

Qrphens,H.iv.l37. 

xXxxx H. xxx. :•:. 
Ocso, Connt, Pnrg. vi. 20 
'"xxxxx. Fx. xx. ~.~. 
Ottocar, Pnrg. vii. 100. 
Ottaviano. See Ubaldi 
Ovid, H. xxv. 87. See 
N as : . 

Pachvnian, Par. viii. 78, 

P.Fxx ?:-:. xx. 4X 
Padnan, H. xvii. 67. 
Padnans, H. xv. 7. 
Psan, Par. xiii. 2 - 
Pagani,Pnrg.xiv. 1*21. 
prxxxx. :F:xxxxxxx. H. 
xxx .* 47. Porg. xiv. 122. 
Fxxx: .'x x xxx, Fxx; 



Pxx 
-x 

xxx PaF 
I 2* 



x. B6 

'urg. xii 



INDEX. 



583 



Pallas, sou of Evander, Par. 

vi. 34. 
Paolo, H. v. 131. 
Parcitati de', Montagna, H. 

xxvii. 41. 
Paris, citv, Purg. xi. SI ; xx. 

51. 
Paris, son of Priam, H. v. 

66. 
Parmenides, Par. xiii. 120. 
Parnassus, Par. i. 15. 
Parnassian, Purg. xxii. 65; 

xxviii. 147. 
Pasiphae, H. xii. 14. Purg. 

xx vi. 36, 78. 
Paul, Saint, H. ii. 34. Purg. 

xxix. 135. Par. xviii. 

1-28, 13-2 ; xxi. 119 ; xxviii. 

130, 
Pazzi, Carlino, II. xxxii. 66. 
Pazzo, Riniero, H. xii. 138. 
Pegasaean, Par. xviii. 76. 
Peleus, II. xxxi. 4. Purg. 

xxii. 113. 
Pelorus, Purg. xiv. 34. Par. 

viii. 7-2. 
Peneian, Par. i. 31. 
Penelope, H. xxvi. 95. 
Penestrino, H. xxvii. 98. 
Penthesilea, H. iv. 121. 
Pera, Par. xvi. 124. 
Perillus, H. xxvii. 7. 
Persians, Par. xix. 111. 
Persius, Purg. xxii. 99. 
Perugia, Par. vi. 77 ; xi. 43. 
Peschiera, H. xx. 69. 
Peter, Saint, H. i. 130 ; ii. 

26 ; xviii. 34 ; xix. 94, 97 ; 

xxxi. 54. Purg. ix. 119; 

xix. 97. Par. ix. 136 ; xi. 

112; xviii. 128, 132; xxi. 

118; xxii. 86; xxiii. 133; 

xxiv. 35 ; xxv« 14 ; xxvii. 

11; xxxii. 110, 118. 
Peter of Spain, Par. xii. 

126. 
Peter III. of Spain, Purg 

vii. 113, 126. 
Pettinagno, Piero, Purg. 

xiii. 119. 
Phaedra, Par. xvii. 46. 
Priaeton,H. xvii. 102. Purg. 

iv. 68. Par. xvii. 1 ; xxxi. 

116. 
Pharisees, H. xxiii. 118; 

xxvii. 81. 
Pharsalia, Par. vi. 67. 
Philip III. of France, Purg. 

vii. 104. 



Philip IV of France, H. 

xix. 91, Purg. vii. Hi 

xx. 85. Par. xix. 117. 
Philips, Purg. xx. 49. 
Phlegethon, H. xiv. Ill 

126. 
Phlegraean, H. xiv. 55. 
Phlegyas, H. viii. 18, 23. 
Phoebus, H. xxvi. 115. 
Phoenicia, Par. xxvii. 73. 
Pholus, H. xii. 69. 
Photinus, H. xi. 9. 
Phrygian, Purg. xx. 113 
Phyllis, Par. ix. 96. 
Pia, Purg. v. 131. 
Piava, Par. ix. 28. 
Piccarda, Purs:, xxiv. 1? 

Par. iii. 50 ; iv. 94, 108. 
Piceno, H. xxiv. 147. 
Pierian, Purg. xxxi. 141. 
Pietra della, Nello, Purg. r 

133. 
Pietrapana, H. xxxii. 29. 
Pietro. See 3Iangiadore. 
Pietro Lombardo, Par. x 

104. 
Pigli, Par. xvi. 100. 
Pilate, Purg. xx. 91. 
Pinamonte. See BuoEiJ« 

cossi. 
Pisa, H. xxxiii. 30, 77. Purg 

vi. 18. 
Pisans, Puis. xiv. 55. 
Pisces, H. xi. 118. Purg. : 

21. 
Pisistratus, Purg. xv. 95. 
Pistoia, H. xxiv. 124, >42 

xxv. 9. 
Pius I., Par. xxvii. 40. 
Plato, H. iv. 131. Pun* : i. 

41. Par. iv. 24. 
Plautus, Purg. xxii. 97, 
Plutus- H. vi. 117 ; vii, -2. 
Po, H. v. 97 ; xx. 77. Purg. 

xiv 95; xvi. 117. Par 

vi. 52. 
Poitou, Purs:, xx. 64= 
Pola, H. ix. 112. 
Polenta, H. xxvii. 38. "e* 

Novelio. 
Polycletus, Purg. x. 30. 
Polvdorus, H. xxx. 19. Purg. 

xx. 113. 
Polyhymnia, Par. xxiii. 53. 
Polymnestor, Purg. xx. 112. 
Polynices, H. xxvi. 55. 

Purg. xxii. 57. 
Polyxena, H. xxx. 18. 
Pompeian, Par. vi. 74. 



584 



INDEX 



Pompey, Par. vi 54. 
Ponthieu, Purg. xx. 64. 
Portugal, Par. xix. 135. 
Pouille, Purg. vii. 127. 
Prague, Par. xix. 116. 
Prata of, Guido, Purg. xiv. 

107. 
Prato, H. xxvi. 9. 
Pratomagno, Purg. v. 115. 
Pressa, Par xvi. 98. 
Priam, H. xxx. 15. 
Priscian, H. xv. 110. 
Proserpine, Purg. xxviii. 51. 
Provencals, Par. vi. 132. 
Provence, Purg. vii. 127; 

xx. 59. Par. viii. 60. 
Provenzano. See Salvani. 
Ptolomea, H. xxxiii. 123. 
Ptolemy, H. iv. 139. 
Ptolemy, king of Egypt, 

Par. vi. 71. 
Pygmalion, Purg. xx. 103. 
Pyramus, Purg. xxvii. 38; 

xxxiii. 69. 
Pyrrhus, H. xii. 135. Par. 

vi. 44. 

Quarnaro, H. ix. 112. 
Quintius Cincinnatus, Par. 

Vh 47 ; xv. 122. 
Quirinus, Par. viii. 137. 

Raban, Par. xii. 130. 
Rachel, H. ii. 102; iv. 57. 

Purg. xxvii. 105 Par. 

xxxii. 6. 
Rahab, Par. ix. 112. 
Raymond. See Berenger. 
Raphael, Par. iv. 48. 
Ratza, Par. xix. 137. 
Ravenna, H. xxvii. 37. Par. 

vi. 03. 
Ravignani, Par. xvi. 60. 
Rebecca, Par. xxxii. 7. 
Rehoboam, Purg. xii. 42. 
Renard, Par. xviii. 43. 
Rono, H. xviii. 61. Purg. 

xiv. 95. 
Rhea, H. xiv. 95. 
Rhine, Par. vi. 60. 
Rhodope, Par. ix. 96. 
Rhone, H. ix. 111. Par. vi. 

62 ; viii. 61. 
Rialto, Par. ix. 27. 
Richard. See Victor Saint. 
Rigogliosi de', Marchese, 

Purg. xxiv. 32. 
Rimini da, Maktestino, H. 

xxviii. 81. 



Rinieri.. See Calboli, Cor 

neto, Pazzo. 
Riphaean, Purg. xxvi. 38 
Ripheus, Par. xx. 62. 
Robert, Purg. xx. 57. 
Robert, king of Sicily, Par 

viii. 81. 
Robert. See Guiscard. 
Rodolph, Emperor, Purg. vi. 

104; vii. 94. Par. viii. 77 
Romagna, H. xxvii. 25, 34 

xxxiii. 152. Purg. v. 68 

xiv. 101 ; xv. 43. 
Roman, Purg. x. 67 ; xxxii. 

101. Par. vi. 43. 
Romano, Par. ix. 29. 
Romano di, Azzolino, II. 

xii. 110. Par. ix. 30 
Romans, H. xv. 77 ; xviii 

29. Par. xix. 98. 
Rome, H. i. 66 ; ii. 23s xiv. 

100; xxvi. 62; xxviii. 10. 

Purg. vi. 114; xvi. 109 

129; xviii. 80; xix. 107; 

xxi. 89 ; xxii. 143 ; xxix. 

Ill; xxxii. 101. Par. vi 

59 ; ix. 135 ; xv. 119; xvi 

10 ; xxiv. 64 ; xxvii. 57 : 

xxxi. 31. 
Romena, H. xxx. 72 
Romeo, Par. vi. 131, 137. 
Romoaldo, Saint, Par. xxii 

48. 
Romulus. See Quirinus. 
Rubaconte, Purg. xii. 95 
Rubicant, H. xxi. 121 ; xxii 

40. 
Rubicon, Par. vi. 64. 
Ruggieri. _ See Ubaldini. 
Rusticucci, Giacopo, H. vi 

80 ; xvi. 45. 
Ruth, Par. xxxii. 7 

Sabellius, Par. xiii. 123 . 
Sabellus, H. xxv. 80. 
Sabines, Par. vi. 41. 
Sacchetti, Par. xvi. 101. 
Saladin. See Soldan. 
Salem, Purg. ii. 3. 
Salimbeni, Niccolo, H. xvix. 

123. 
Salterello, Lapo, Par. xv . 123 
Salvani, Prcvenzano, Purg, 

xi. 122 
Samaria, Purg. xxi. 2. 
Samuel, Par. iv. 29. 
Sancha, wife of Richard, 

king of the Romans, Par, 

vi. 135. 



INDEX. 



535 



Sanleo, Purg. iv. 23. 
SanneLa, Par. xvi. 89. 
Santafiore, Purg. vi. 113. 
Santerno, H. xxvii. 46. 
Sapia, Purg. xiii. 101. 
Sapphira, Purg. xx. 109. 
Saracens, H. xxvii. 83. 

Purg. xxiii. 97. 
Sarah, Par. xxxii. 6. 
Sardanapalus, Par. xv. 100. 
Sardinia, H. xxii. 89 ; xxix. 

47. Purg. xviii. 81 ; xxiii. 

87. 
Sardinian, H. xxvi. 103. 
Satan, H. vii. 1. 
Saturn, H. xiv. 95. Purg. 

xix. 4. Par. xxi. 24. 
Savena, H. xviii. A. 
Savio, H. xxvii. 50. 
Saul, Purg. xii. 35. 
Scaevola, Mutius, Par. iv. 

62. 
Scala della, Alboino, Par. 

xvii. 09. 
Scala della, Bartolommeo, 

Par. xvii. 69. 
Scala della, Can Grande, 

H. i. 93. Par. xvii. 75. 
Scarmiglione, H. xxi. 103. 
Schicchi, Gianni, H, xxx, 

33. 
Sciancato, Puccio, H. xxv. 

138. 
Scipio, H. xxxi. 106. Purg. 

xxix. 112. Par. vi. 54; 

xxvii. 57. 
Sclavonian, Purg xxx. 88. 
Scornigiani de', Farinata, 

Purg, vi. 18. 
Scornigiani, Marzucco, 

Purg. vi. 19. 
Scorpion, Purg. xxv. 4. 
Scot, 3Iichaei, H. xx. 114. 
Scot, Par. xix. 121. 
Scrovigni, H. xvii. 62. 
$cyros, Purg. ix. 35. 
Seine, Par. vi. 61 ; xix. 

118. 
Semele, H. xxx. 2. Par. 

xxi. 5. 
Semiramis, H. v. 57. 
Seneca, H. iv 138. 
Sennaar, Purg. xii. 32 
Sennacherib, Purg. xii. 43. 
September, H. xxix. 46. 
Serchio, H. xxi. 48. 
Sestus, Purg. xxviii. 74. 
Seville. H. xx. 125; xxvi. 

109. 



Sextus I., Par. xxvii. 40. 
Sextus, Tarquinius, or Sex 

tus Pompeius, H. xii. 135 
Sibyl, Par. xxxiii. 63. 
Sichaeus, H. v. 61. Par. ix, 

94. 
Sicilian, H. xxvii. 6. 
Sicily, H. xii. 108. Purg 

hi. 113. Par. xix, 128. 
Sienna, H. xxix. 105, 113 

Purg. v. 131; xi. 112, 134, 

135 ; xiii. 98. 
Siennese,H. xxix. 131. Purg 

xi. 65. 
Siestri, Purs:, xix. 99. 
Sifanti, Par. xvi. 102 
Sigebert, Par. x. 132. 
Signa, da, Bonifazio, Par 

xvi. 54. 
Sile, Par. ix. 48. 
Silvius, H. ii. 14. 
Simiibnte, Par. xvi. 61. 
Simois, Par. vi. 70. 
Simon Magus, H. xix, 1 

Par. xxx. 145. 
Simonides, Purg. xxii. 10G 
Sinigaglia, Par. xvi. 74 
Sinon, H. xxx. 97, 115 
Sion, Purg. iv. 65. 
Sismondi, H. xxxiii. 32 
Sizii, Par. xvi. 106. 
Socrates, H. iv. 131. 
Sodom, H. xi. 53. Pur^ 

xxvi. 35, 72. 
Soldan, H. iv. 126 ; v. 59 

xxvii. 85. Par. xi. 94. 
Soldanieri, Par. xvi. 90. 
Soldanieri del, Gianni, PI 

xxxii. 118. 
Solomon, Par. x. 105 ; xiii 

85. 
Solon, Par. viii. 129. 
Soracte, H. xxvii. 89. 
Sordello, Purs:, vi. 75 ; vii 

2, 52; viii. 38, 43, 62, 93; 

ix. 53. 
Sorga, Par. viii. 61. 
Spain, Purg. xviii. 101. Par. 

vi. 65 ; xii. 42. See Peter, 
Spaniard, Par. xix. 122 ; 

xxix. 108. 
Sphinx, Purg. xxxiii. 47. 
Statius, Purg. xxi. 92 ; xxii. 

26 ; xxv. 30, 35 ; xxvii 

47 ; xxxii. 23 ; xxxiii. 35 

133. 
Stephen, Saint, Purg. XV 

105. 
Stricca, H xsix. 121, 



586 



INDEX. 



Strophades, H. xiii. 12. 
Stv-ian, H. vii. 110 ; ix. 80. 
Stvx. H. xiv. 111. 
Siiabia, Par. iii. 122. 
Sylvester, the Franciscan, 

Par. xi. 76. 
Sylvester, Pope, H. xxvii. 

90. 
Syren, Purg. xix. 13. Par. 

xn. 7. 
Syrinx, Purg. xxxii. 64. 

Tabemich, H. xxxii. 29 
Tabor, Purg. xxxii. 73. 
Taceo. See Ghino. 
Taddeo, Par. xii. 77. 
Tagliacozzo, H. xxviii. 16. 
Ta-liamento, Par. ix. 44. 
Tanais, H. xxxii. 27. 
Tarlatti de', Cione, or Ci- 

acco, Parg. vi. 15. 
Tarpeian, Purg. ix. 129 
Tarquin the Proud, H- iv. 

124. 
Tartars, H. xvii. 16. 
Taurus, Purg. xxv. 3. Par. 

xxii. 107. 
Tegghiaio. See Aldobrandi. 
Telamone, Purg. xiii. 142. 
Te'emaehus, H. xxvi. 93. 
Tel us, Purg. xxix. 115. 
Terence, Purg. xxii. 26. 
Thais, H. xviii. 130. 
Thales, H. iv. 135. 
Thames, H. xii. 120. 
Thaumantian, Purg. xxi. 49. 
Theban, H. xiv. 65 ; xxvi. 

55 ; xxx. 2. 
Thebes, H. xx. 30; xxv. 

15; xxx. 23: xxxii. 11: 

xxxiii. 90. Purg. xviii. 

92; xxi. 92; xxii. 88. 
Themis, Purg. xxxiii. 47. 
Theseus, H. ix. 55. Purg. 

xxiv. 122. 
Thetis, Purg. xxii. 112. 
Thibault, king, H. xxii. 51. 
Thisbe. Pur-, xxvii. 37. 
Thomas, Saint, Par. xvi. 

128. 
Thomas Saint. Aquinas. 

Pur-, xx. 67. Par. x. 96 ; 

xii. 103, 133 : xiii. 29 ; xiv. 

6. 
Thracia, Purg. xx. 110. 
rhviiibrcean. Purg. xii. 25. 
Tiber, H. xxvii. 23. Purg. 

::. 97. Par. xi. 99. 
Tiberius, Par. vi. 89. 



Tignoso, Federigo, Purg 

xiv. 108. 
Tigris, Purg. xxxin. 11 -2. 
TiniGeus, Par. iv. 50. 
Tiresias, H. xx. 37. Pur- 

xxii. 112. 
Tisiphone, H. ix. 4?, 
Tithonus. Pur-, ix. 1. 
Titus, Fuis. xxi. 83. Par 

vi. 94. 
Tityus, H. xxxi. 115. 
Tobias. Par. iv. 49. 
Tolosa, Purg. xxi. 89. 
Tomyris, Purg. xii. 51. 
Toppo, H. xiii. 123. 
Torquatus, Par. vi. 46. 
Tosadeila. See Ciangkc 
Tosiiighi, Par. xvi. 103, Ufl 
Toms, Pur-, xxiv. 23. 
Trajan, Pur-. x= 69. Par 

xx. 39. 
Traversaro, Purg. xiv. 109. 
Traversaro, Piero, Pur- 

xiv. 100. 
Trento, citv, H. xii. 5 ; xx 

65. 
Trento, river, Par. viii. 65. 
Trespiano, Par. xvi. 52. 
Tribaldello. See Maofiredi 
Trinacria, Par. viii. 73. 
Tristan. H. v. 66. 
Trivia, Par. xxiii. 25. 
Trojan, K. xiii. 12; xxviii. 

8. Par. xx. 62. 
Tronto, river. See Trento. 
Trov, H. i. 70 ; xxvi. 65 : 

xxx. 14. 23. 97, 113. Purg. 

xii. 55. Par. xv. 119. 
Tally, H. iv. 135. 
Tupino, Par. xi. 40. 
Turbia. Pur-, iii. i 
Turks, H. xvii. 16. 
Turnus, II. i. 105. 
Tuscan, H. xxii. 97: xxiii 

76, 92 : xxviii. 104 : xxxii 

63. Pur-, xi. 58 i xii:, 

139 ; xiv. 105. 128 ; xvi. 

141. Par. ix. 57: xxii. 114, 
Tuscany. H. xxiv. 121- 

Pur-, xi. 110 ; xiv. 17. 
Tydeus, H. xxxii. 125. 
Typhosus. Par. viii. 74. 
Tvphon. H. xxxi. 115. 
Tyrol, H. xx. 59. 

Yalbona,. di, Lizio, Purg 

xiv. 99; 
Valdichiana, H. xxix. 45. 
"valdigrieve, Par. xvi. 65 



INDEX. 



567 



Valdimagra, H. xxiv. 144. 

Purg. viii. 115. 
Valdipado, Par. xv. 130. 
Valeri, Sieur de. See Alar- 
do. 
Vaiiiii. See Fucci. 
Var, Par. vi. GO. 
Varro, Purg. xxii. 97. 
Vatican, Par. ix. 134. 
Ubaldini degli, Ottaviano, 

H. x. ISi. 
Ubaldini degli, Ruggieri, H. 

xxxiii. 15. 
Ubaldini degli, Ubaldino; 

of Pisa, Purg. xxiv. 29. 
Ubaldini degli, Ugolino; of 

Azzo, Purg. xiv. 107. 
Ubaldini, Ugolino ; of Faen- 

zo, Purs. xiv. 1-24. 
JJbaldo, Far. xi. 41. 
Ubbriachi, H. xvii. GO. 
Uberti, H. xxiii. 110. 
Uberti degli, Fariiiata, H. 

vi. 79 ; x. 3-2. 
Uberti degli, Mosca, II. vi. 

8 J ; xxviii. 102. 
Ubertino, Par. xii. 115. 
Uberti no. See Donati. 
Uberto, Par. xii. 111. 
Uccellatojo, Par. xv. 104. 
Vecchio, Par. xv. 110. 
Venedico. See Cacciani- 

mico. 
Venetians, H. xxi. 7. 
Venice, Par. xix. 138. 
Venus, Purg. xxvii. 94. 
Vercelli, H. xxviii. 71. 
Verde, Purg. iii. 127. Par 

viii. G6. 
Verona, H. xv. 124. Purg. 

xviii. 117. 
Veronese, H. xx. C6. 
Veronica, Par. xxxi. 95. 
Verruchio, H. xxvii. 43. 
Vesulo, H. xvi. 95. 
Ughi, Par. xvi. 86. 
Ugo, Par, xvi. 127. 



Ugolino. Ree Gherardeschi 

and Fantolini. 
Uguccione, son of Count 

Ugolino de' Gherardeschi, 

H. xxxiii. 88. 
Vicenza, Par. ix. 47. 
Victor Saint, Hugues cf, 

Par. xii. 125. 
Victor Saint, Richard o r , 

Par. x. 127. 
Vigne delle, Piero, H, xii": 

60. 
Virgil, passim. 
Visconti de', Galeazzo, oi 

Milan, Purg. viii. 80, 108. 
Visconti de', Nino; di Ga2- 

lura, H. xxii. 82. Pmg. 

viii. 53, 81, 108. 
Visdomini, Par. xvi. 110. 
Vitaliano. See Dente. 
Ulysses, H. xxvi. 56. Purg 

xix. 21. Par. xxvii. 77. 
Urania, Purg. xxix. 39. 
Urban I., Par. xxvii. 41. 
Urbiciani. See Buonag- 

giunta. 
Urbino, H. xxvii. 27. 
Urbisaglia, Par. xvi. 72 
Utica, Purg. i. 74. 

William, Marquis of Mont- 

ferrat, Purg. vii. 136. 
William, of Orange, Par 

xviii. 43. 
William II. of Sicily, Par 

xx. 57. 
Wlnceslaus, II., Purg. vii. 

102. Par. xix. 123. 

Xerxes, Purg. xxviii. 70 
Par. viii. 130. 

Zanche, Michel, H.xxn. 83 

xxxiii. 143. 
Zeno, H. iv. 136. 
Zeno, San, Purg. xviii. 118 
Zita, Santa, H xxi. 37 









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